


Roses Bloom in Moonlight

by cerulean (NightsWatch_Chef)



Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Angst, Bayley is Tuxedo Mask, Baysha is actually together, F/F, Fluff, Humor, Love, Many other wrestlers appear as minor characters but this is mostly Baysha, Romance, Sailor Moon themes, Sasha is Sailor Moon, Secrets, Sex, Some Cursing, Supernatural Elements, baysha
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:01:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 35,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27096214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightsWatch_Chef/pseuds/cerulean
Summary: Sasha Banks and Bayley re-unite, and decide to keep their relationship a secret. But how long will this secret survive? Especially with a growing evil threatening their world.
Relationships: Sasha Banks/Bayley | Davina Rose
Comments: 96
Kudos: 134





	1. The Rose that grew from concrete

**Author's Note:**

> Initially was set in the future (January 2021) when first published, divergence from TV storylines.  
> Loosely based on Sailor Moon, mostly incorporating some elements / themes. This is more mild than my usual angst. Some fluff, and some borderline sex scenes (not explicit).  
> Mature rating for adult themes, violence, language.

The rose is a rose,

And was always a rose.

But the theory now goes

That the apple’s a rose,

And the pear is, and so’s

The plum, I suppose.

The dear only knows

What will next prove a rose.

You, of course, are a rose –

But were always a rose.

\- Robert Frost, “The Rose Family”

Bayley’s body slammed into the padded surface outside of the ring, but she painfully pondered if she fractured another part of her body. Getting dumped outside of the ring, even onto the mats, was not forgiving to bones. The referees swarmed her, as the small, scattered crowd cheered raucously and there were even some jeers from her fellow wrestlers.

She heard Bianca Belair’s voice call from inside the ring.

“Bye bye, Bayley! Thanks for coming!” she laughed. The crowd loved it, they continued cheering her on.

“You OK, Bayley?” whispered a male referee who approached.

Bayley lay on her stomach, and swung her hand in a “go away” motion. She heard the referees move away from her as more commotion erupted in the ring and others were struggling from being thrown over the top rope. She rubbed her fingers through her hair. She returned at the Royal Rumble from a long hiatus after fracturing her right hand at the Hell in a Cell PPV. But her return was quickly spoiled by the teamwork of Shotzi Blackheart and Bianca Belair: a vicious kick to the abdomen and then she was caught in the KOD, the Kiss of Death, her body trapped along Belair’s shoulders before she was easily tossed over the top rope, out of the ring and into the oblivion of defeat. Bayley placed her hands over her head, as she heard more bodies slam onto the mats nearby her. This is not what she imagined.

Beltless. Friendless. And now she wondered if another bone was broken.

“What do you think, Beth? Will she come out here? Will the Vigilante of the Women’s Division get involved at the Royal Rumble?” Corey Graves asked loudly at the commentary table.

“We’ll see! Anything’s possible at the Rumble, and this masked Vigilante has been getting involved on all brands and several women’s matches in the WWE,” remarked Beth Phoenix.

“Seems to me that she only gets involved if there is some injustice going on, so who knows what’ll happen tonight if we see her in the women’s Rumble match or another women’s division match! It’s Boss Time on the main event later this evening when the Smackdown Women’s Champion, Sasha Banks, defends her title against Carmella,” interjected Michael Cole enthusiastically.

Bayley still lay facedown, and she groaned into the gray mat.

_Sasha._

They did not speak or interact since Hell in a Cell. The last words they spoke to each other were on the top of the cell, screaming threats and obscenities at each other. The hatred, the fear were all palpable at the summit of Hell.

Now silence. Silence since Sasha lunged at her furiously, and they both fell from the top of the cell and crashed into the announce table. The table shattered, and this sound was heard around the world.

* * *

“Beautiful transition from Banks!”

“Carmella’s trapped! She’s in the Bank Statement in the middle of the ring!”

“There’s no where to go!”

“She’s tapping! She’s tapping! It’s over! Sasha Banks has defeated Carmella in our main event!”

“Another successful title defense for the champion, Sasha Banks!”

The referee handed her the glittery blue belt, Sasha smiled widely as her arm was raised in victory. The crowd cheered loudly as her music boomed through the speakers. Michael Cole continued shouting himself hoarse at the announce table, proclaiming Sasha’s greatness.

As suddenly as Carmella tapped, an eery, red glow drenched the colorful ThunderDome. Some of the virtual fan screens went black or became a blinding, white and gray static. A loud, metallic hum, a high-pitched tinny sound replaced Sasha’s bass filled rap music. Sasha looked around, abruptly finding herself alone in the ring. She draped her blue belt over her shoulder as she noticed figures approaching on the entrance ramp.

Alexa Bliss, the Raw Women’s Champion, her blonde and pink hair tousled from competing earlier in the evening, stood there, flanked by Nikki Cross and the Fiend. The black WWE championship belt hung from the Fiend’s neck like a sinister necklace, he defeated Drew McIntyre in the match prior to win this prize.

Alexa’s expression was blank as they all walked slowly down the ramp. Sasha’s brain seemed to jam, a part of her mind pleaded that she should run but her heart commanded her to stay in the ring. Her ring. Because she was no coward, and these freaks with their masks, clown makeup and costumes were not going to scare the Boss, the Champion.

Again, suddenly, the lights went out after a big shuttering noise erupted. Sasha tossed her belt aside in the darkness, and stood her ground, ready for a fight. A few seconds later, the red glow lit up the ring again and Sasha discovered that she was surrounded. Alexa stood directly in front of her, while the Fiend and Nikki were also in the ring but on other ends, preventing any type of escape.

Sasha glared at Alexa. The red belt wrapped around her waist sparkled even more in this evil red lighting. Alexa’s expression was still blank.

“What do you freaks want from me?” Sasha screamed, and she took a menacing step towards Alexa.

Nikki and the Fiend moved closer, the Fiend tilted his head at Sasha and his tongue writhed out of his mask while Nikki chuckled crazily. Sasha glanced around at all three of them, panic rising in her throat. Her own courage tried to comfort her though as she stood alone, surrounded by monsters in the ring. She was truly alone. Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair were out of action, due to injury and media engagements. And Bayley was gone too. Bayley… Who was now her enemy.

The lights went out again, and the world was plunged into darkness. Sasha clenched her fists and her abdomen, waiting for them to attack her. She heard something metal collide with someone’s body, and a woman yelled out in pain. More harsh sounds, as a weapon was attacking the Fiend, his gruff yelps were muffled by his mask. Sasha whirled around, her arms up in preparation to fight.

The stadium lights were on again, but the virtual fan screens were all blank, and the audience erupted into chaotic cheers. A woman wearing a black, zip up hoodie adorned with white stars, and loose black sweatpants stood in front of Sasha. She stood like a sentinel and she faced the other three in the ring. In the woman’s hands were a black baseball bat and a black steel chair with many dents. Sasha could not see the woman’s face, since her back was turned, but Sasha knew who this was: the masked Vigilante.

Nikki was clutching her stomach on the mat while the Fiend leered at them while down on one knee. Alexa stared at Sasha and her expressionless face broke into a slight smile. The world became dark once again. The metallic humming noise in the background stopped. When the lights returned in a few seconds, Nikki, the Fiend, and Alexa were gone. Sasha stood alone in the ring with the Vigilante, her protector.

The hooded woman turned to look at Sasha. Sasha had seen her in different masks, but there was always some type of rose pattern on the masks. This time, the luchador mask was white with a large red rose on the left cheek, the only human feature were the piercing blue eyes peering out from oval shaped openings while the covered outlines of the woman’s nose and mouth could be seen through the white mask.

The Vigilante dropped her weapons and turned to walk over to the abandoned blue belt. Sasha watched nervously as the other women picked up the belt. Then, the Vigilante walked back to her and handed her the title. Sasha glanced from the title and up into the beautiful, blue eyes of her defender. She carefully accepted her belt. The other woman unzipped her black hoodie, revealing a tight, white tank top, and she reached into an inner pocket, removing a brilliant, blue rose. She held the rose out to Sasha. Sasha thought she saw the brief outline of a smile through the white mask. This Vigilante had rescued her a couple times before from angry competitors and sore losers who wanted to take things too far after she defeated them in the ring, and the encounter always ended with a rose from this mystery woman. This is the first time that the rose was a beautiful, deep blue color. Sasha grinned slightly and reached out for the rose.

In prior meetings, she had asked the Vigilante who she was and why she helped her. But the woman never responded. She never said anything. Tonight, Sasha spared her the questioning, because maybe it did not truly matter. As quickly as she arrived, after gifting her the rose, the Vigilante was exiting the ring and hopped over the barricade into the crowd.

* * *

“But seriously, who could it be?” Lana said to Sasha, beaming.

Sasha smiled shyly, twirling the blue rose between her thumb and index finger.

“We’ve talked about this for weeks,” laughed Liv Morgan, who sat in front of them in catering, “And still no leads, no clues.”

Liv’s best friend, Ruby Riott, sat next to her and looked around thoughtfully. “Well, our only clues are that this person is well built and has blue eyes.”

“She is so hot! And she smells so good! Like a bouquet of roses!” Lana giggled.

“You haven’t even seen her face! How do you know she’s hot?” teased Liv with another laugh.

Lana smiled brightly at all of them and sighed girlishly.

Sasha snorted and shook her head at Lana. She knew why Lana was so enamored with this masked woman. A couple weeks ago, the Vigilante rescued Lana from an irate Nia Jax on Monday Night Raw. Lana also sprained her ankle so the Vigilante picked her up in her arms and carried her into the medical exam room before suddenly disappearing, as she often did.

Bayley eavesdropped on their conversation from a few tables away. She poked at her baked chicken with a fork and glanced around at the two men who sat with her. Seth Rollins and Buddy Murphy were both dejected and stone-faced, they looked in each other’s direction but did not seem to actually see at each other.

“Rough night for all of us, right?” Bayley said in a low voice.

Murphy looked down at Bayley’s plate of salad and chicken. Seth cleared his throat a bit and crossed his arms.

“If someone just listened to his Messiah then maybe we wouldn’t be in this mess,” Seth stated, looking over at the catering line and avoiding Bayley and Murphy’s gazes.

Murphy sighed, ignoring Seth. “Happy to have you back with us, Bayley.”

“Thanks dude, but tonight was embarrassing. Damn… I knew they’d gang up on me,” said Bayley, flatly.

The entire women’s division hated Bayley passionately. Bayley’s reign as the Smackdown Women’s Champion terrorized the locker room until she was vanquished by Sasha Banks at Hell in a Cell. While she was out due to injury, no one reached out to her. She did message Becky and Charlotte. Becky did not respond, likely still upset because Bayley betrayed Sasha. And Charlotte sent her very long, novel-like text messages, scolding her and lecturing her about what it means to be a dignified champion, as well as lectures on friendship and loyalty.

Bayley did not care for the crowd reaction tonight for her return, she was not wrestling for the fans anymore. There were a few cheers but mostly boos as her music played and she raced down into the ring to join the Rumble. Bayley was much more concerned about the other women in the match, and that she was truly alone and vulnerable. Tonight, she could not even sit with any of the women in catering and was instead welcomed by Seth and Murphy to their table.

Seth glanced over at Sasha’s table since there was an explosion of giggling from the women. He frowned a bit, then turned his attention to his friends at the table.

“So… who do you think is the masked Vigilante?” he asked.

Bayley stared down at her plate and spoke in a glum tone. “Who cares, dude? She didn’t help me tonight.”

“Hm, yeah, I could’ve used her help, since everyone around me is so useless,” remarked Seth venomously, he gave Murphy a sideways glance.

Murphy said nothing, opting to stare at Bayley’s plate of food.

* * *

Sasha exited the building, sauntering towards her black Audi convertible in the parking lot. The parking lot was oddly empty and the Florida air seemed a bit chilly. She wore tight, red leather pants, a white tube top, a long, sparkling chain necklace with a crescent moon pendant, and gold high heels. Her long blue hair held back in a neat pony-tail. The blue belt was wrapped around her waist, its glitter and shine matching her jewelry’s brightness.

“Sasha.”

A familiar voice called out to her before she placed a hand on the Audi door. She turned around and frowned at Alexa Bliss and Bray Wyatt. Bray smiled sweetly at her, he wore a red sweater and dark blue jeans. Alexa’s hair was still a mess, she was still clad in a black leather jacket studded with silver spikes, and a frayed black skirt. Her blue eyes were unblinking and a sinister smile was on her lips.

“What do you want?” Sasha enunciated every syllable, she was truly bewildered as to why these people were stalking her all night.

“Oh Boss!” Bray giggled excitedly, “What’s with the harsh tone? We just want to chat.”

Alexa opened her mouth to speak but Sasha interrupted her swiftly.

“Chat about what?” shot back Sasha, glaring at them both.

“The title,” Alexa said plainly, a trance-like nature to her voice.

“Which one? There are three fucking champions standing here, Bliss,” retorted Sasha, and she rested her hand on the blue belt on her waist.

Alexa smiled wider. “Yours.”

“What about mine? You’re already a champion,” Sasha said with a frown and furrowed brows.

Before the conversation could continue, moonlight seemed to shine deeper upon them. Clouds had shifted above, revealing a blinding full moon. A chilly breeze rushed through them, and deep red rose petals appeared in this breeze. When the breeze disappeared, the petals fell softly on the concrete between Sasha, Alexa and Bray. They all glanced around as the sounds of footsteps grew louder.

A surprised smile grew on Sasha’s face as she saw the Vigilante walking towards them. The masked woman was once again carrying a dented steel chair and a baseball bat.

Bray blinked in an exaggerated way and grinned. “Ah, it’s the Vigilante of the women’s division! I wondered when we’d see you again.”

The Vigilante halted nearby Sasha and turned her attention to Bray. The masked woman and the husky man stared at each other. Bray’s smile was dangerous though, flashes of the Fiend were always noted in his visage, and he seemed to peer into one’s soul.

“You can hide your face, you can refuse to speak, but I know who you are,” Bray teased in a sing-song voice.

Sasha glanced nervously at the masked woman, but the woman did not budge, her ice blue eyes remained fixed on Bray.

“You’re a coward—” Bray began.

Sasha shouted over him: “Shut the fuck up! I don’t know what the point of this is! Bliss, if you want a piece of me then just meet me in the ring, and stop creeping around with your boyfriend, the Fiend, in the parking lot!”

Sasha’s words seemed to spark something within Alexa, as if something that lay dormant had furiously awakened. Alexa gritted her teeth and charged at Sasha as Bray laughed in the background. The Vigilante stepped in the way and knocked Alexa off course with the steel chair. Alexa tumbled to the concrete, clutching at her side. Then, Alexa automatically rose to her feet to charge again, but Sasha saw the Vigilante fall to the ground next to her as another person entered the fray. Nikki Cross, who appeared from literally thin air, attacked the Vigilante with a steel chair to the back. Sasha picked up the fallen baseball bat and swung at Nikki, their weapons clanged loudly together. Sasha dodged an incoming Alexa who attempted to grab at her. Bray continued to laugh loudly in the background as if he watched a comedy movie.

Nikki screamed, a war cry into the night air, and she banged the steel chair against the ground before picking it up over her head again. The Vigilante speared Nikki into the ground before the chair could be used on Sasha. Sasha swung at Alexa with the bat, but Alexa dodged in unnatural ways, as if her body was too fluid to be restricted by movements. Sasha twirled around, to give more momentum to the bat, and she thought she hit Alexa’s arm but Alexa caught the bat with her hand and held it steady. Sasha glared at the blonde, surprised by her strength, and Alexa smiled back at her, her blue eyes still unblinking. The bat shook in Sasha’s hand in their tug of war, and this was abruptly stopped as Alexa was hit in the side by the Vigilante’s steel chair. Alexa stumbled but recovered too quickly for Sasha and the Vigilante to react, she drove a forearm into the Vigilante’s masked face. The masked woman was hit cleanly and she fell again.

Then, Nikki rejoined the fight, holding back Sasha’s arms and the bat fell down. Nikki laughed crazily as she pulled back a struggling Sasha. Sasha growled and attempted to wrench free but Nikki was surprisingly strong. Alexa slowly picked up the bat and admired it in her hands. Alexa smiled down at the bat in her hands, then she smiled at Bray. A wide grin had split Bray’s face. Sasha continued to struggle in Nikki’s maniacal grip, she shut her eyes, bracing herself for the impact of the bat.

It never came.

The bat fell to the ground as Alexa was mauled by the Vigilante. The masked woman struck Alexa in the abdomen with her knee, then held her tightly before picking her up and launching her back into the concrete in a belly-to-belly suplex. During Nikki’s bewilderment, Sasha managed to break from her grip and punched her in the face. Nikki gave a muffled groan as she put a hand over her bloody nose. Bray finally intervened, stepping in front of Alexa and Nikki with a serious look. The Vigilante knelt nearby Sasha and Sasha placed a hand on her shoulder.

“C’mon big boy, you want some too?” Sasha challenged Bray.

Bray glared at her ferociously. Sasha knew she was imagining this but it seemed like the image of his face swam in and out of focus, flashes of the Fiend’s terrible mask appeared and she blinked furiously. The world seemed to turn red around them and she gripped the Vigilante’s shoulder tightly in fear. Suddenly, she and the Vigilante were alone and Bray, Alexa, and Nikki had disappeared. Sasha looked around, the parking lot was mostly empty and she did not see them run away anywhere.

She looked down as she noticed that her protector had slumped down on the concrete. She was breathing heavily and holding the back of her head. Sasha knelt down as well, placing a hand on the woman’s back.

“Hey, are you OK?” Sasha asked nervously.

“I’ll be fine, are you alright?”

This was the first time Sasha heard the Vigilante’s voice. It was a low growl, slightly muffled by the mask.

A familiar, low growl.

“Yes, thank you. You didn’t have to do that for me.”

The Vigilante rose to her feet with Sasha’s help and then she staggered slightly as she walked away.

“Hey!” Sasha called after the woman, “Who are you?”

The Vigilante said nothing and continued to walk away, and Sasha watched her reach out for one of the nearby semi-trucks and slump against it in pain. Sasha rushed to her side, placing the other woman’s arm over her shoulders.

“C’mon, let’s go to my car and I’ll take you to a clinic or something,” Sasha whispered.

“No. Please don’t…” the masked woman’s voice was even softer now.

“Well, I’ll take you somewhere safe if you don’t want medical attention. Just… just trust me, OK?” Sasha said urgently.

She understood the woman’s need for privacy but she was confused why her identity was more crucial than acute medical care. The Vigilante nodded slightly and allowed Sasha to support her to the convertible.

In the car, the Vigilante shut her eyes and extended her neck, resting the back of her head on the car seat while Sasha pressed a button to start the engine. The convertible top started to roll down and deep, dark bass from an R&B song filled the speakers. Sasha drove on deserted roads, hoping that no one would see that the Smackdown Women’s Champion was driving away with a bleary, masked Vigilante. They finally stopped at a red light and Sasha glanced over at the woman.

“Is it your head or your neck? Where’s your pain?” Sasha asked.

The Vigilante’s eyes were still closed and she shook her head slightly in response. Sasha thought the words of Ruby, Liv and Lana were accurate tonight: the Vigilante was truly the strong, silent type. And yes, she did smell like a bouquet of fresh roses from a fancy flower shop.

Sasha parked the car in front of her music studio, she thought this may be the safest place to bring her masked hero. Her house was in the same neighborhood as Charlotte’s and several other wrestlers but the music studio was in a fairly secluded area of downtown Orlando.

Sasha continued supporting the woman, the woman’s arm still over her shoulder while Sasha held her lower back. They walked slowly into the studio. The lights were quite dim, and there were several, large black leather couches. The Vigilante sat on the edge of the couch, holding her head painfully. Sasha rushed around to some of the adjacent rooms of the studio, collecting items. She returned with a pillow, blankets, and a water bottle. Sasha set the items down on the couch, and sat down as well.

She felt a strange magnetism with this masked woman. A familiar pull. An attraction that she felt she had experienced before. The woman was resting, her back against the deep couch and her neck extended.

“Do you need any medicine? I have some Tylenol around here somewhere,” Sasha stated, watching her carefully.

The woman’s head lulled a bit on the couch and she shook her head. Sasha crept a bit closer to her on the couch, touching the woman’s arm. The woman opened her eyes and shifted her body to look at Sasha. Blue eyes peered into Sasha’s heart.

_Does she know I’m lonely?_ Sasha wondered.

_I’m a champion. I’ve been on TV series and commercials. My rap album will be out soon. I have everything._

_But, yet, I have nothing._

She wished she did not talk to all of those women at catering after her match. The women who were rescued by the Vigilante of the women’s division. Who gushed over the Vigilante. Who all had crushes on this woman who now sat in the dark and quiet studio with Sasha. This woman had also rescued Sasha several times from complete disasters after matches. So, Sasha felt a little less alone because of this chivalry. Becky and Charlotte were not around. Bayley is back, but she’s now an enemy. And no one would ever really rescue Sasha like that except Bayley. But those days were over. Bayley would no longer be laying over her broken body to protect her from harm. Now, this masked woman, who she felt a deep attraction to, was her savior.

And she really could not explain why she felt like fucking this woman right here on the leather couch. It was lunacy. Her heart beat rapidly as the woman’s blue eyes seemed to drift down to look at her outfit, like an x-ray exposing her.

Sasha gulped. “I really want to repay you for all the times you’ve helped me… Would you let me?”

The Vigilante said nothing, her eyes had a tender, soft expression. Sasha continued rubbing her hero’s arm, as she pondered. Was this really about repayment? Or was she just curious about how this woman’s muscular body would feel all over her while they were both nude?

Sasha allowed her own loneliness overcome the anxiety in her heart and she straddled the woman. The woman’s eyes widened but continued to gaze at Sasha deeply.

“Let me just… take care of you tonight, in the ways you took care of me,” Sasha whispered softly as she lowered her face. She pulled the white mask up, revealing lips with a pale pink gloss. Sasha kissed her softly, briefly and then pulled away slowly, the palpitations in her chest had a disjointed rhythm and she could feel her heart throbbing in her ears. For a hard, tough, Vigilante, her lips were incredibly soft and warm. She made the kiss brief because she could not read this woman, she did not know if this was wanted or shunned.

The Vigilante appeared nervous for the first time, she blinked and looked away.

“I’m sorry—” Sasha started.

“Sasha… it’s me.”

Sasha’s eyes widened and her eyebrows raised, the voice was so familiar now. It was—

The Vigilante took down her hood and revealed lustrous, short black hair. Then she lifted the rest of the mask up and off of her face. Bayley tossed the mask aside, looking away, ashamed.

“Girl, I can go. I hit the back of my head on the concrete, but I’ll be alright. I don’t want to lead you on, I know it’s not what you expected,” Bayley explained, attempting to rise off the couch and refusing to meet Sasha’s eyes.

Sasha remained frozen, still straddling her former friend and now supposed enemy.

“I’m sorry, dude, I’m really fucking sorry. I know you don’t want to see my face again, I’ll just go, Sash,” Bayley said hurriedly in a guilty voice.

Sasha gripped her face with both of her hands, staring at her in amazement.

Sasha bit her lip and then spoke softly: “Baby… wait. I hoped… I knew….”

With Bayley’s face cupped in her hands, Sasha leaned down again and kissed her deeply. In their frenzy of kissing, Sasha grappled with Bayley’s clothing, taking down the star design hoodie and taking a break from kissing just to pull Bayley’s tank top over her head to reveal a black bra.

Bayley breathed heavily as Sasha started to remove her own clothing. The pain in the back of Bayley’s head mysteriously disappeared. The air was caught in her chest as suddenly Sasha was topless in front of her.

“Are you sure this is OK? …Is this what you want to do? We could stop if you want—”

“I’ve wanted this for years,” Sasha interrupted Bayley and continued kissing her.

Sasha’s deft fingers unclasped Bayley’s bra, allowing it to fall and she placed her hands on Bayley’s breasts, pushing her onto her back on the blanket. Bayley stared at her friend with an open mouth, not sure what to expect next. Sasha started to kiss and suck on her neck, leaving a trail of red love bites on her skin as she traveled down Bayley’s body. Bayley’s heart rose into her throat as she moaned, her mind still not believing the sight her eyes witnessed tonight.

Bayley thought it would be another night of cradling herself in pain, alone in her bed, lamenting her wounds from being the image of justice in women’s wrestling. And she would rewind in her mind the thoughts of paranoia and the betrayal she thought was justified in September. Then the thoughts of the violence of the cell would appear again, spiraling her into nightmares until she woke up in a cold sweat, alone except for a folded steel chair propped at her bedside. This would happen almost every night, and she thought the Vigilante would be her redemption. But the Vigilante became bigger than her, became a way for her to hide the face that was hated by everyone in the wrestling world. The Vigilante and Bayley were two separate women who happened to share the same body. Good and evil. But they had the same desire deep down: to protect Sasha Banks.

Sasha’s hands arrived at Bayley’s pants and she started to slowly remove them. Her lips traveled down Bayley’s hard abdomen, and stopped at a scar on her left hip. Bayley looked away in shame, the scar was a remnant from their battle in the cell. They wounded each other in their own private Hell in October. The paranoia, the betrayal, the anger, the Hell that destroyed their friendship.

Sasha looked up at Bayley and saw Bayley’s timid expression. Sasha kissed the scar to let her know that she still loved her, even if they plunged each other into the depths of Hell. With enough care and affection, all wounds heal over time.

_Baby you're no good_

_'Cause they warned me 'bout your type girl_

_I've been ducking left and right_

_Baby you're no good_

_Think I fell for you, I fell for you, I fell for you_

\- The Weeknd, “Acquainted”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bayley shouted out our group chat on Twitter! Thanks Alberto, for persistently asking her to do so hahaha. And I like how Papi Bayley pretended to hear every word except "Baysha"... HAHA!
>
>> BYEEE @ the baysha clowns [pic.twitter.com/GFSIjTnh2U](https://t.co/GFSIjTnh2U)
>> 
>> — SPOOKY 🕷A👻L🎃B👽 MET BAYLEY (@bayleysanime) [October 16, 2020](https://twitter.com/bayleysanime/status/1317172901565632515?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> 
> Thanks for reading! 


	2. The Bodyguard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween! Stay safe!

She woke slowly, naturally, although there were _pings_ from her smartphone in the background. The electronic notifications signaling that there were unread text messages on her phone did not seem to jar her awake this morning, because she felt like she was still in a dream. Sasha’s foot slid out from the blanket and her bare skin experienced the icy air of the dark music studio. She shifted quickly, adjusting back into the warmth of the blanket and moving closer, if that was even possible given their proximity while sleeping together on the leather couch, to the scorching hot body of her friend.

“Good morning, Boss,” Bayley whispered sleepily. Her arm was around Sasha’s shoulders while Sasha’s arm was wrapped around her abdomen. Their legs somewhat intertwined.

“Morning, Bay,” Sasha responded, snuggling closer to Bayley’s body, “It’s so cold in here, I should’ve changed the temp before we went to sleep.”

Bayley rubbed Sasha’s well defined arm and pulled her closer, then kissed her forehead. Sasha grinned, looking into Bayley’s eyes. Sometime in the evening, Bayley had removed the blue contact lenses of the Vigilante and now her eyes were once again the warm brown hue that Sasha adored deeply.

“No worries. Sorry, I shouldn’t have stayed, I could go—”

Bayley’s voice was interrupted by a harsh knocking on the door of the studio. Bayley and Sasha exchanged worried looks. Sasha turned over to reach for her phone. She looked briefly at the notifications but did not open the messages, instead she sighed heavily and set her phone back down on the coffee table. Quick, loud knocks were heard again.

“I can put some clothes on and go see who that is,” offered Bayley, attempting to get up.

Sasha embraced her, holding her from pushing the warm covers aside. “I know who it is, I’ll go.”

“Who is it?” Bayley asked quietly, keeping a polite curiosity on her face. She knew this question may be awkward, and she and Sasha were separated for a long time, so she was no longer privy to Sasha’s personal life.

Sasha smiled grimly. “My manager.”

Before any more words could be exchanged, Sasha gracefully, and swiftly rose from the couch and off of Bayley.

Bayley watched Sasha’s nude body in amazement as she disappeared into the bathroom. Bayley’s mind was still processing the events of last night, still in disbelief that she slept with Sasha Banks. As best friends, sometimes they shared a bed and cuddled, but they were always clothed and there was generally nothing sexual about this closeness. Last night was a release of pent up emotions and carnal desires. Bayley knew that this was likely a one night stand and she should have left before morning arrived; Sasha is the champion and she is a star — so she was probably in these scenarios often, and Bayley was just the flavor of the night.

Soon, Sasha emerged with a bright pink robe and she was hastily wrapping it around herself as she raced across the room to the door. The knocking continued.

“Alright, cool down!” said Sasha as she opened the door. Sasha strategically blocked the studio from view as she shut the door behind her to stand in the chilly hallway of the building.

Her manager took her glasses off and rubbed her temples. “Boss, what is going on?!”

Sasha’s manager, Melissa Mack, was a petite woman with short, brown-blonde hair in a ponytail, stern hazel eyes, and an energetic demeanor. She wore a navy blazer, white blouse, and matching navy pencil skirt. Her high heels were her trademark black heels with red bottoms, designer Louboutins. Sasha felt severely underdressed in her slippers and bathrobe, and her long blue hair was a bit messy.

“What’s up, Mel?” Sasha asked, crossing her arms because of the cold air.

“You missed the photoshoot! The photographer called me a million times and I texted you, probably a million more times,” Mel explained, exasperation in her tone.

“I forgot, OK?! I’m human! And I was busy,” protested Sasha.

Mel had a suspicious twinkle in her eyes. “With what, exactly? This really isn’t like you at all.”

“I need to finish the last few songs of this album, and I’m busy with defending my championship,” Sasha stated matter-of-factly. She was not in the mood to be patronized by Mel Mack.

“OK Boss, but let me know in advance the next time you can’t attend something I set up for you,” sighed Mel, “And did you stay up all night recording? You wrestled at the PPV last night, you usually go to bed early after those events.”

Sasha frowned and shifted nervously. She hoped the recording equipment was actually shut off in the studio last night, and not recording the love songs she made with Bayley.

“Well, no, but I was up late working on my music,” Sasha retorted with a huff.

“Maybe you could play a sample for me…” suggested Mel with a grin.

Sasha shifted her weight from her left foot to her right foot, and fidgeted nervously. “Um… it’s not the finished product yet, still working on things—”

“C’mon, let’s go inside and you can play a little sample, right?”

Sasha moved in front of the door handle again, arms still crossed as she thought frantically. In the past few months, she had complained about Bayley’s treachery to Mel, and Mel often described her former best friend as “excess baggage” that she should be happy to be rid of. Mel’s job was to help Sasha become a mega star, a mainstream success — so Mel would be highly disappointed to find “excess baggage” laying naked, under blankets on a couch in her recording studio.

“Mel, I really can’t right now… I’m gonna sleep a bit more—”

“Alright, then can I use your bathroom before I leave? I drank too much coffee and I have to run off to another meeting.”

Sasha coughed a bit. “Uh… it’s broken.”

“The cleaners were in the studio yesterday afternoon and they said everything was in good order, why didn’t you tell me there was a problem? We could get it fixed right away,” Mel said, giving Sasha a puzzled look.

Sasha laughed nervously. “I really need to go, Mel. Sorry about this morning and I’ll call you later when I’m feeling better!”

“You sure you’re OK?” Mel asked sternly, her eyes watched Sasha’s expression carefully.

“I’m fine,” Sasha’s voice came out more like a squeak.

Bayley had dozed back to sleep during Sasha’s absence. At first, anxiety welled in her chest as she waited; she was unsure of what to expect. Then, the aches and pains of last night became more prominent: from her embarrassingly fast exit from the Royal Rumble, to fighting with Alexa and her clowns twice, and Sasha’s lustful aggression on the leather couch. Bayley shut her eyes, hoping to shut out the pain and fell back into a light slumber.

She woke when she felt Sasha’s hand on her forehead, and then caressing her scalp. Sasha suddenly removed her bathrobe again, and Bayley smiled but her heart skipped a beat and her throat became dry with anticipation when she witnessed Sasha’s nude body. Bayley lifted up the blankets, to allow Sasha to join her in cuddling again and to warmly protect her from the cold air of the studio. Sasha lay next to her and they embraced tightly. Sasha giggled as her fingers rubbed along the love bites on Bayley’s neck and chest.

“I’m sorry, I got carried away last night,” Sasha said, still chuckling and admiring her work on her friend’s body.

“What? Oh.”

Bayley looked down and noticed a small trail of hickeys down her chest, abdomen, and ending at her hip. Various feelings mingled within her, and some of them were unpleasant. She remembered the large bruises that Sasha inflicted upon her back and arms at Clash of Champions and Hell in a Cell with a kendo stick. The bruises that Sasha kissed onto her body last night had a different meaning but Bayley wondered how often Sasha, the big star and the Legit Boss, did this to others. And it was not any of her business, but that thought hurt as well.

_If this is a one night stand… why did she mark me as her property?_

“Um, everything go OK with your manager?” Bayley asked hesitantly.

Sasha breathed heavily and rolled her eyes. “Yeah. Snoop hired her for me, he said she’s the real deal. She’s been helpful but she’s like a damn hawk.”

Sasha reached over to the coffee table, and she turned back to her with the white luchador mask in hand. Sasha grinned and held the mask close to Bayley’s face. Bayley smiled sheepishly and looked away, embarrassed.

“I wondered for a while about this… and I wasn’t sure but I thought it could be you. I felt your energy. The Vigilante of the women’s division, huh?”

“Did Michael Cole give me that nickname?” Bayley laughed.

“I think he did,” giggled Sasha, “So, why’d you do it? I heard you weren’t medically cleared until last night but you were running around in the mask for weeks.”

Bayley could not meet Sasha’s eyes, and her tone was sad: “Do I need a reason to help people?”

“If the doctors didn’t clear you yet, you could’ve made your injuries worse. And is it worth it to help random people?” Sasha asked quietly.

“Well… it was to me… after everything I did,” sighed Bayley, her hand drifted down Sasha’s spine and she absentmindedly massaged her friend’s smooth skin.

“But Bayley, is that the way to fix things? All of us have been appreciative of the Vigilante, and I can speak for the locker room when I say that, but you don’t have to kill yourself for our sake,” Sasha said in a serious tone.

Bayley first appeared as the Vigilante on the Survivor Series PPV. Kairi Sane returned for one night only to cheer on Io Shirai and Asuka at ringside while they challenged Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax for the tag team championship. The match ended in disqualification, and Nia decided to take things too far by attacking Kairi — and the lights were shut off suddenly, but when the arena lights came back on, the Vigilante was in the ring. She rescued Kairi from Nia, and gifted Kairi with a red rose. Kairi, Io, and Asuka all exchanged confused looks while the announce team was shouting shrilly about this new, mystery woman who they assumed to be a member of Retribution. After all that had transpired, Bayley knew that the first person she should save was Kairi.

Kairi. Who Bayley had destroyed in the background while Asuka and Sasha fought for the red belt on Raw. Bayley thought this was the way to reveal her love for Sasha, to distract Asuka by harming Kairi, to eventually crown 2 Beltz Banks by using acts of violence. But this was merely a distortion of love. It was wrong. And Bayley did not realize it until her affections were never returned, and her paranoia convinced her that Sasha never loved her.

She could hide her shame behind the luchador mask. She could atone for her sins as a faceless hero, because she felt that everyone deserved more than just “Bayley.” And she started to wonder if her true self was not good enough because they would never trust her. If she was not wearing a mask, Io and Asuka would have pummeled her for approaching Kairi. But instead, they all praised her excitedly in their post-match interview while Kairi played a song on a recorder for her masked crusader.

Bayley mused in the silence after Sasha’s question, not sure what to answer. Sasha spoke again to fill the cold void of the room.

“And everyone on social media thinks the Vigilante is Becky Lynch,” chuckled Sasha as she thought about the various posts she saw online and the fan theories on the Vigilante.

Bayley laughed heartily. “Yeah, she’s flying back and forth from LA to be the fist of justice in the WWE.”

“Don’t underestimate The Man,” joked Sasha before she gave Bayley another serious look, “But is that how you see yourself? The ‘fist of justice’? You broke your hand, and there are bruises and scars on your body from helping everyone. I worry about you, Bay.”

Bayley’s heart twinged painfully. She fractured a bone in her right hand when she repeatedly punched the ring posts at Hell in a Cell, and she missed Sasha’s face in her fury. Their pillow talk was eventually going to drift into the winding path of their last encounter in the cell, since that was the last time they spoke. She regained her composure enough to look into Sasha’s beautiful brown eyes.

“Don’t worry. You’re the Champ, you’ve got enough on your plate. And I should leave you alone, thank you for letting me stay with you,” Bayley said in a quiet voice, and then she hugged Sasha again.

Sasha clutched Bayley’s face between her hands and kissed her abruptly. The alluring warmth of their bodies and the closeness was enough to spark a repeat of the night before. When Sasha pulled away, she continued to stare into Bayley’s eyes… the eyes that she had stared into several times before in the weeks before this day, the eyes that were blue instead of brown, the eyes of her hero.

And she thought back to last night in the ring, in the parking lot.

No one would ever rescue her like that except Bayley.

A part of her knew.

No one could protect her except Bayley.

“Thank you for being there for me,” Sasha whispered.

Bayley smiled at her, perfect dimples on full display. Dimples that Sasha missed so dearly.

Sasha continued on, loudly, in a more excited tone: “Well! Let’s go out and get breakfast!”

* * *

Generally, Bayley spent most days in solitude. She would get a rare text message from Seth or Murphy, but otherwise she had no friends. In the morning, she would always be drinking coffee while reading a book, alone. This morning was drastically different, chaotic and surprising.

Bayley sat in the passenger seat of Sasha’s Audi R8 convertible, the shiny black car had metallic blue trim and the interior seats were an ultra soft, black leather. The two-seater car was still quite spacious and Bayley was impressed with the technology in the car. Bayley was in a disguise that Sasha picked out for her: a Legit Boss zip up sweater with a hood to cover her hair, a black bandana around her neck to conceal the love marks, black RayBan aviator sunglasses, a black Boss Time tank top, black pants, and black skate shoes. Bayley did not protest, although this outfit made her look like a complete “Sasha mark,” and she knew that the public did not need to discover that she and Sasha were together again. Sasha also wore a more casual outfit this morning: a purple tank top, a short, gold chain necklace with a small, crescent moon pendant, tight gray yoga pants, white Jordan basketball shoes. Sasha also wore dark sunglasses. She flashed a bright smile over at Bayley as she finally put the car in park in front of a Japanese bakery.

“Trust me, we’ll be good here. It’s almost lunch time and this place doesn’t get busy again until the afternoon,” explained Sasha, before she took a sip from her protein shake. They sat facing each other, at a booth in a corner. They were the only customers in the bakery. Between them, the waiter had placed a bright purple, taro sponge cake with two spoons on the plate.

Bayley also sipped her protein shake from a straw and looked down curiously at the cake. She decided to keep her sunglasses on indoors in case the staff recognized her. She and Sasha had visited many businesses together as friends and as champions but this was a bakery she had never been to before. They were alone in the bakery and the staff seemed really busy with preparing delivery items and re-stocking pastries in the glass cases.

“It’s good, you should have a bite. I know this isn’t part of our diet plan as wrestlers but we can have a few bites, right?” Sasha said, flashing her dazzling smile again that seemed to light up the entire bakery. The sun was flooding into the premises but it was dim in comparison to Sasha’s smile. At her suggestion, Bayley scooped up some of the cake with a spoon and bit into the purple cake. It was light, airy, and flavorful.

“Oh my God! SASHA!!”

Sasha and Bayley sat in a booth deep within the bakery and off to the side but Sasha did see three, diverse teenagers pacing around on the outside. Bayley’s back was turned, so it was Sasha who watched them since she faced the entrance of the bakery. One of the teens, a girl with long black hair, brown eyes, and she wore a Bayley “Ding Dong” shirt, opened the bakery door to shout at Sasha.

Sasha smiled automatically at the fans and she motioned with her head slightly at Bayley. Bayley quickly brought the black bandana up to cover her nose and mouth. They both stood up to greet the three fans who entered the bakery. Sasha was surprised that the girl with the Bayley shirt was almost as tall as her, while a much taller boy, with a stocky build and wavy brown hair, towered over her and Bayley. He wore the shirt that had a portrait of Sasha’s face and all of her nicknames displayed on the font. The third girl who stood among them was also tall, but not as tall as the boy, she had long, wavy dark hair and green eyes; she was clad in a Golden Role Models shirt. These kids appeared to be ready to go to a work out or something of that nature, since they all had wrestling merchandise shirts but athletic shorts and sneakers.

“Hey guys! What are your names?” Sasha asked brightly while Bayley stood awkwardly beside her.

They all introduced themselves, practically shouting in excitement from meeting Sasha Banks.

“And this is my bodyguard, she doesn’t really say much so don’t mind her shyness,” Sasha said, waving a hand over at Bayley.

Dalis, the teen who wore the Bayley shirt looked curiously over at Bayley’s stoic figure and the black bandana. “Wow Boss, you have bodyguards? And she looks like a thug too… Boss ’N’ Thug—”

“I’m gonna have bodyguards too when I’m the WWE champ one day!” shouted Alberto.

“Well, we’re not training to be wrestlers just to have bodyguards, we’re supposed to get all the gold too,” piped in Esmerelda, the third girl who appropriately wore the Golden Role Models merchandise.

“You’re training to be wrestlers? That’s beautiful. You guys stay safe, drink water and train hard. You’ll be Bosses just like me one day,” stated Sasha, smiling around at all of the teenagers.

Bayley nodded in approval.

“C’mon, let’s get a photo together,” Sasha said excitedly, “Bay— Bodyguard, take her phone and get a pic of us.”

The teenagers did not ignore the mishap that slipped from Sasha’s mouth and they all looked at each other while Dalis gave her phone to Bayley. Sasha rounded them up around her, positioning everyone while she hoped that they did not know the true identity of her Bodyguard from that mistake. Everyone smiled widely as Bayley took several snaps with the camera phone before giving the teen her phone back.

Before Alberto, Dalis, and Esmerelda left the bakery to go to their wrestling school, Sasha gave all of them hugs and well wishes. Sasha and Bayley decided to leave the bakery, protein shakes in hand, before any more fans could recognize them and discover their secret. They drove over to a nearby park, and walked together among beautiful trees and flowers. The park was mostly devoid of inhabitants other than a few older people with dogs.

“I’m going to Raw tonight, Charlotte said she has a surprise for me,” Sasha said, her voice muffled a bit as the wind picked up around them.

Bayley looked at her, her bandana was around her neck again and more of her face was in view. “I haven’t talked to Char in forever. What do you think it is?”

“She’s still out with an injury, or at least I thought she wasn’t cleared yet. We’re going to be on Raw Talk together after the show, hopefully she tells me something before surprising me in front of the world on TV.”

“The Smackdown Women’s Champion on Raw Talk? Hm… they’ve never invited me before, you’re famous, Sash,” Bayley said with a smile.

Sasha grinned at her friend but her joy faded rather quickly as she thought more about why she could be invited to Raw. Maybe this was not about Charlotte’s surprise, maybe this had something to do with…

“So Bay, what do you think about all that shit with Alexa and Bray last night?”

Bayley stopped sipping from her straw and looked into the distance thoughtfully. “Dude, who knows? They’re crazy. Did they tell you what they wanted?”

“Bliss mentioned my blue belt but nothing else. If she’s thinking about becoming a double champion, she’s really lost her fucking mind,” Sasha quipped angrily.

“She’s already Raw’s champion and the Fiend is the WWE champion, so I don’t get it. But, I also don’t get why they’re together and why Nikki is playing along in their little game,” sighed Bayley.

“You’re right, who the fuck knows? Whatever they’re doing, they’d better stay out of my business,” said Sasha in a low hiss. It was infuriating to think of Alexa and Bray confronting her in the ring and in the parking lot.

There was a lengthy pause in the conversation as they thought more about this predicament. Then—

“I’ll protect you. I know I’ve made mistakes and I’m really sorry, Sasha, but I’m here for you and I’ll protect you,” Bayley declared, stopping briefly to look seriously at her friend.

Sasha halted as well.

This all did not feel real. The pretty park foliage, the birds chirping happily in the distance, the pleasant breeze sifting through them. Bayley and Sasha together again. As friends? Or some deviation of friends…

Bayley took off her sunglasses, she gazed at Sasha with blue eyes again, she had put the contact lenses back in before they left the studio. “I know what you’re thinking… you don’t have to trust me, I don’t blame you. But I’ll be there for you, in the mask. I know everyone in the locker room hates me but I’ll wear the mask for you.”

The sorrow in Bayley’s tone shook Sasha’s heart. The pleading and desperation in Bayley’s voice, revealed that she would consider existing in Sasha’s life in the shadows, whenever Sasha needed her assistance. Bayley talked about righting her prior wrongs earlier this morning, and Sasha wondered if this was more about Bayley’s quest for redemption than actually being her friend again. And were they friends after last night? What they did on the couch for most of the night was not “friendly.” Sasha was at a loss for words, a loss of what to decide at this very moment. She could open her legs for Bayley but could she open her heart?

“You don’t have to do that for me, Bay—”

“But I do. Baby, you know I do… after everything you’ve done for me and the mistakes I made,” pleaded Bayley, her voice tremulous with emotion and she hastily looked away from Sasha’s concerned visage.

Sasha mused on the first night she met the Vigilante. A few months ago, on the Friday Night Smackdown event after the Survivor Series PPV, Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez viciously attacked her after a match, and her tag partner, Carmella, mysteriously disappeared. Sasha was trapped in a corner of the ring, shielding her head from the sharp stomps from Dakota and Raquel. She felt hopeless and she called out to the only name she could think of in that moment…

_“Bayley!”_

But it was not Bayley who saved her after the lights went off and on, it was the Vigilante in a black luchador mask with a red rose design, the usual black zip up hoodie and loose sweatpants.Armed with a black baseball bat reminiscent of wrestling’s original vigilante, Sting, and a black steel chair.

“Why? I called for you a few months ago on Smackdown, and you saved me… Why?” Sasha whispered, struggling to keep her voice steady. Maybe she already knew the answer. Maybe Bayley was trying to solve the issues of the past, because Sasha called for Bayley’s help at Summerslam when she fought valiantly in the Asuka Lock and Bayley was absent. Sasha lost everything that night: she lost the match, she lost the red belt, she lost her title as a double champion, she lost her trust in Bayley.

And the past few months of her encounters with the Vigilante / Bayley may not change everything.

And maybe the lovemaking last night made her feel less alone but it may not change anything.

_But maybe…_

Bayley smiled bravely at Sasha as tears streamed down her face. “You can call for me and I’d always come. Always. I’m your bodyguard, remember?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Odie, Amerie, and Alberto who were featured as adoring Baysha fans! Thank you to my friend, Dr. M, who let me use her likeness to create Sasha's manager, Mel Mack.   
> These interactions will be important as the story continues to unfold.


	3. She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween! Stay safe!

Sasha Banks was extremely preoccupied. She sat on a plush loveseat in her private locker room in the Amway Center, a sparkling water bubbled in a glass on the table in front of her. The giant TV on the wall displayed Raw’s opening segment featuring the former champion, Drew McIntyre. She watched her friends around her: Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch chatted excitedly, but her mind was too busy to hear their words. When they glanced at her or referenced her, she nodded and plastered a smile to her face, hoping this would hide her inattention. Becky was actually the surprise that Charlotte promised her, she was visiting them from filming a new movie in Los Angeles. Sasha had not seen her in weeks. Sasha wished to be present, to be in the moment with her friends and fellow Horsewomen, but she failed.

“Champ, did ya hear what I said?” Becky said loudly, snapping her fingers in the air playfully.

Sasha was staring at the TV absently and suddenly pulled her attention to Becky’s smiling face on an adjacent couch. “What’s up?”

Becky chuckled, setting her glass of sparkling water down on the table. “I asked you what you thought your friends, Bliss and the Fiend would be doing tonight.”

“Yeah, you might need to go out there and help Drew,” said Charlotte, motioning her head towards the TV.

Sasha’s lips lifted slightly into a smile. “Who knows. I’m still confused why they appeared in the ring last night. And no, Drew’s a big boy, he can get his title back himself. I have my own title to protect.”

“You OK, Champ?” asked Becky, in a more serious tone.

Sasha forced a laugh. “Of course! Why would you ask that?”

“You just seem… I dunno, like somethin’s off with ya,” Becky said, peering at Sasha closely above the rim of her glass that she had picked up again.

“I’m good, really. Are you good?” Sasha responded quickly, deflecting the questioning back to Becky.

“Splendid,” Becky said cheerfully after taking a long sip from the sparkling water.

“Splendid?!” repeated Charlotte with a giggle, “Well, how often do we all get to hang out? Becks, stop giving Sasha a hard time and let’s just enjoy Raw tonight.”

“As you wish, my Queen,” Becky held up her glass to her girlfriend, Charlotte, at this declaration and Charlotte smiled at her adoringly.

They continued chatting about the possible events of tonight while Sasha escaped back into her thoughts. She was not afraid. She was never afraid. But, she was on Raw, the domain of the Fiend and Alexa Bliss. And they sought her last night, twice, and Alexa stared at the blue belt with such fire and lust. Nothing ever made sense when they were involved. At first, she remembered that Nikki Cross protested their union, she asked Alexa to “Let her in” instead of allowing the Fiend to consume her friend’s heart, but things changed. Now, Nikki had reverted to her twisted persona, who reveled in carnage wherever she ventured, who was another soul added to the cryptic cause of Alexa and the Fiend. Sasha did not understand it, and she also did not understand why they targeted her.

And then there was Bayley.

Bayley.

Who was always on her mind. Even after the destruction of their friendship at Hell in a Cell in October, she always thought of her. Bayley was now the enemy of the women’s locker room, and Becky and Charlotte never dared to speak her name in front of Sasha. Bayley, who was confined to a mask and thought this would help her atone for her crimes against others. Sasha was always a ruthless person with a streak of selfishness because that was the meaning of the Boss, but she sacrificed for Bayley’s success this year. She chose Bayley over and over. Bayley was more important than gold but Sasha had to be the one to take this gold away from her best friend, because it eroded Bayley’s kind and gentle nature. And Sasha knew that that was not the whole story though, because she acknowledged that she had something to do with the evil she witnessed within Bayley. But, she wondered, _would the Vigilante be Bayley’s salvation?_

_Is this really the way?_

It was heartbreaking. Bayley chose something different than what was expected of her, she deserted the path that destroyed her. Destroyed her friendship with Sasha. Destroyed her relationships with everyone in their world. The path that left her with nothing. And Sasha knew she was trying, truly trying to be a good person. But Sasha was hesitant, she was wary if she could trust Bayley. Even after last night and this morning, Sasha did not know if mercy existed in her heart for Bayley.

Yet.

* * *

“Shut up!”

Nia Jax rolled her eyes at the boos of the physical and digital crowd around her. She was clad in black and purple ring gear. She glanced over at the female referee that she brought to the ring with her, and the referee appeared as if she wanted to be anywhere except sharing the ring with Nia. Nia sighed and brought the microphone back to her lips.

“Are you gonna finally let me talk? You’re probably wondering why I’m out here with a ref. Well, I have a major problem with someone who keeps getting into my business.”

The crowd booed loudly again and Nia paused, annoyed.

“Oh, shut up! Like I was saying, I have a problem with a masked moron running around turning light switches on and off, and then attacking me with weapons. This so-called, ‘Vigilante.’ You’ve never had an actual match, so I’m giving you an opportunity. If you’re really what all these people say you are, why don’t you come out here, with no weapons, and fight me, Hero!”

Nia threw her mic down to the mat to punctuate her statement. Sarcasm had dripped in her voice when she said the word “hero.” She stared determinedly at the entrance ramp which was lit up with the typical red lights of Raw. Nothing happened. The crowd murmured. The commentators asked each other if the Vigilante would actually appear. Nia rolled her eyes again. It felt like she stood there for hours.

Then, a chill seemed to appear in the air. Nia felt as if invisible snow was drifting into the ring, her skin crawled with goosebumps, but she ignored this and continued to glare at the entrance ramp. Her heart stopped when the lights were suddenly cut out, and everything was pitch black.

“What?!”

Nia looked around and could see nothing in this darkness. It was as if her eyes could no longer see. The arena fell silent.

The lights came back on, and the colorful world of the Thunderdome reappeared. The crowd boomed loudly and the commentators started shouting. Nia and the referee whirled around.

The Vigilante was in the ring. She wore a red luchador mask with a white rose design, blue eyes fixed on Nia from the openings of the mask, but the red mask covered her nose and mouth completely. She also wore a white zip up hoodie, loose white pants, and red skate shoes. The Vigilante slowly zipped down her hoodie, revealing two pieces of tape on each side of her neck; and she was shirtless: showing off a black sports bra, and a well defined abdomen that had an interesting line of small, purple bruises. Nia licked her lips slightly at this display but she regained her focus when the referee called for the bell to ring.

“Here we go!! The Vigilante’s first scheduled match in WWE is happening right now on Monday Night Raw!” bellowed Samoa Joe at the announce table.

The Vigilante ran towards Nia and ducked under Nia’s attempt at a clothesline. She raced to the other end of the ring, swiftly turning and bouncing off the ropes. Nia tried another clothesline but again was too slow as the Vigilante ducked again. When Nia turned around for a second time, she fell backwards and off her feet as the Vigilante had leaped up and thrown her entire weight into a shoulder tackle. The crowd cheered, and the virtual fans were clapping in their display screens.

Nia slowly got up from the mat, dazed from the speed of her opponent. She fell back to her knees as the Vigilante hit her with a basement dropkick that targeted her right knee. Before she could attempt any further movements, she was driven face first into the mat.

“Was that— the Natural Selection?” she heard one of the commentators call loudly.

Suddenly, her left arm was being wrenched up, viciously and painfully.

“The Disarm-her!”

Nia heard several people shout about Becky Lynch’s submission maneuver, as she struggled in the hold. She squirmed on either side, cursing from the pain in her shoulder, but the other woman’s weight was set firmly on her upper back and had a vice grip on her arm. Nia smashed her hand against the mat several times when the pain became unbearable, she submitted to the mystery woman.

The bell rang and Nia’s arm was finally released, and she lay facedown. The Vigilante looked around at the commentators and the crowd, everyone was clapping and cheering. The referee raised her arm in victory.

* * *

_We’re really glad that you’re our friend._

_And this is a friendship that will never ever end!_

Bray Wyatt smiled serenely at the puppets and friends all around him in the Firefly Funhouse. The WWE championship belt and the Raw Women’s championship belt were displayed on two shelves nearby him. He wore his usual red sweater, and there was delight in his blue eyes.

“Aw, poor Drew! I would be sad too if I lost my favorite toy!”

The puppets, Nikki and Alexa laughed on cue after his statement. He smiled around at everyone again and clapped his hands together.

“But I’ll tell you what, Drew! You can have your rematch! IF, you promise to hang out with my friend, Alexa, next week on a Moment of Bliss!” he declared, as if inviting Drew to a fun children’s birthday party.

“Yes! That sounds like so much fun! I’d be happy to have you around Drew, and maybe you can tell Nikki and I what your favorite coffee is,” Alexa said cheerfully while Nikki giggled.

“You know what else is fun?” questioned Nikki, smiling at Bray and Alexa, “Last night at the Rumble, hanging out with the Smackdown Women’s Champ, Sasha Banks, is always so much fun!”

Alexa and Bray smiled but their smiles appeared rather hollow.

“And, it would have been more fun if uninvited guests just left us all alone, right?” Bray said, his smile fading a bit as he addressed Alexa and Nikki.

“Ah, yes. But I love roses, don’t you?” Alexa asked him sweetly. Her red eyes glinted.

“Well, some roses just have too many thorns. Thorns that really hurt,” explained Bray dramatically as everyone listened attentively, “Sometimes, roses can be ugly too. And it doesn’t matter how they’re decorated, they’re still ugly on the inside.”

Nikki and Alexa turned to the camera, the grins on their faces were sinister. Bray stopped smiling and suddenly looked very seriously into the camera as well, his hands gripped the table in front of him.

His cheerfulness and sing-song voice had evaporated. He spoke in a deep tone laced with hatred and prophecy.

“Roses are red. Violets are blue. You can hide behind a mask, but she will never love you.”

* * *

“Welcome to Raw Talk! I’m here with my co-host R-Truth and our first guests are three out of the Four Horsewomen: Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, and the Smackdown Women’s Champion, Sasha Banks,” proclaimed Charly Caruso.

“There are only Three Horsewomen, not sure who else you’re referrin’ to,” Becky said shortly as she sat down. She wore a black leather jacket, a white shirt, and dark jeans. Charlotte and Sasha flanked her. Charlotte wore a hot pink blazer, a matching pink skirt, and white blouse. While Sasha wore a dark sleeveless top with yellow crescent moon designs, black leather pants, and she placed the glimmering blue belt in front of her on the glass table.

“I think she means that Asuka’s missing from our group, sweetie,” Charlotte said, flashing a smile at everyone around her.

Becky smirked at her girlfriend, nodding in acknowledgement.

“Hey Man! So what’s up?” R-Truth shouted, his own 24/7 championship belt was placed over his shoulder.

“It’s good to be back on Raw. Haven’t been here for months and this place is already crumbling without The Man. Sasha’s holding court over in Smackdown but Raw is a lawless land,” remarked Becky, shaking her head in disappointment.

“But we have a masked superhero holding it down here!” R-Truth said brightly, and he tapped the belt on his shoulder. Earlier in the evening, after the match with Nia Jax, R-Truth was being chased in the hallways backstage by Akira Tozawa and a group of ninjas. The Vigilante intervened to save R-Truth and his championship from the ninjas.

“The Vigilante of the women’s division, eh? This place needs more security, honestly! How is it that Nia Jax is able to challenge hoodlums off the street and fight them in our ring? And she chose to steal the moves of The Queen and The Man tonight, freakin’ ridiculous! She should step in the ring with me and I’ll show her how to do a real Disarm-her,” said Becky seriously. She drummed her fingers on the table, and this signaled to Charlotte and Sasha that The Man was extremely irritated.

“So, you’re saying you’re not the Vigilante,” Charly stated, looking at Becky.

“Yeah, everyone on Twitter said The Man is the Vigilante,” said R-Truth, as if he was quoting a scientific journal, nodding with Charly.

“Excuse me?” Charlotte interjected, placing a hand on Becky’s wrist before she could speak.

“Well, there are speculations on social media—”

“Whoa, whoa, stop right there,” Charlotte said, interrupting Charly, “Becky has more important things to do then run around in a mask, fighting Nia Jax and other random people on the different brands. Becky is filming a movie, I’m recovering well from my injury, and Sasha is a fighting champion. Don’t you have real things to talk about with us here instead of this Vigilante?”

“Then who do you think it is?” R-Truth asked innocently.

Charlotte stared at him with her mouth open, in shock and annoyance.

Sasha sighed, and everyone turned to her since she was oddly silent throughout the whole interview. “Truth, Charly, c’mon, does it matter? The real issue is that Alexa Bliss confronted me last night after I beat Carmella at the main event of the Rumble. I mean, that’s what we should really be talking about, why would she do that?”

“And this is the first time we’ve ever invited the Smackdown Women’s Champion to Raw Talk, and I’m glad you brought this up, because it’s something we definitely wanted to address with you. They mentioned you briefly in the Firefly Funhouse, what are your thoughts on that?” asked Charly.

“I don’t really care for their puppets and mugs of coffee. I don’t run from a fight. If they want some, I’m not hard to find. Like you saw last night, the Boss stood tall at the main event,” declared Sasha, holding up a hand with perfectly manicured nails.

“Yes, and the Vigilante was there too,” Charly stated in a quiet voice, as the other women at the table glared at her.

“Yeah, she tried to steal the show from the Champ but failed. Sasha’s title defenses have all been wonderful, so masked hoodlums could never steal the spotlight from the Boss,” said Becky defiantly, anger etched in her tone at the repeated mention of the masked crusader.

“So Sasha, you’ve had several interactions with this masked woman, could you tell us anything more about her?” Charly posed this question uncertainly, likely fearing the wrath of the Horsewomen around her.

Sasha did not look at Charly. She stared beyond the camera crew, into a distant space in her mind. A place that she frequently visited in the past 24 hours. She fantasized, strongly wishing she could rewind time.

_Her glittery, light blue nails dug into soft, supple skin. They had switched positions frequently, not out of boredom, but for the desire of exploration. Gentle hands firmly grasped onto her lower back, her hips. The room was cold, dark but the heat from Bayley’s lips sparked lustful flames within her. Their emotions, desires, the feelings they had long repressed for each other were stirred within a pressure cooker and exploded with each climax. Addicting. Intoxicating. It was as if she had a deep thirst for cool water but could not drink her fill. Insatiable. Uncontrollable._

_She straddled Bayley again, while Bayley’s hand reached downward and her lips gently clamped down on one of Sasha’s breasts. Bayley’s fingers had control of her, and she could do nothing but slide her hands around Bayley’s undercut and grip onto dark hair. This was a bumpy ride. She lost count of how many times she screamed:_

_“Papi!”_

Sasha’s musings were brought back down to earth at Charlotte’s derisive tone. She was startled briefly and looked quickly at Charlotte, while Becky watched Sasha with a raised eyebrow.

“What kind of question is that? And Becky’s right, this place needs better security instead of allowing masked crazies to run around and wreak havoc on the Superstars. This whole interview was a complete waste of time. The Boss doesn’t come to Raw very often. And The Queen and The Man certainly don’t come around at all most of the time. But here we are, dealing with this crap.”

They all left the building together, and they were mostly silent other than Charlotte’s occasional quips of anger over what happened on Raw Talk with Charly and R-Truth. They had cut the interview short, or more like, Charlotte decided to end the interview.

“You wanna hang out at our place for a bit, Sash?” asked Becky.

“I don’t wanna be a third wheel, you kids have fun together,” laughed Sasha.

“We were trying to surprise you this morning when Becky arrived in Orlando, but you weren’t at home,” Charlotte said.

Sasha gulped and looked away. “I’ve just been busy—”

“Are ya sure everything’s OK, Boss?” Becky interrupted, they all stopped in the parking lot nearby their cars.

Sasha forced a wide smile. “I’m good. Really. Just thinking about tonight, you know…”

Becky clapped her shoulder. “Ah, Boss, don’t let Alexa Bliss and her little puppets get ya down. If she wants a piece of you, just challenge her on Smackdown. But she really should be worried about what’s going on at Raw, she’s letting that place go to shit.”

“Sasha,” Charlotte looked at her very solemnly, “I know it looks like that Vigilante woman has helped you, but be careful. We don’t know who that is, and we don’t know what she wants. I just hope that she doesn’t appear at the end of any more of your matches.”

Sasha sighed, and gazed at the concerned faces of her friends.

* * *

Bayley exited the shower and got dressed, she was drying her hair with a towel as she heard a notification on her phone. She escaped from the ThunderDome after a minor scuffle with some ninjas, she grinned when she thought of R-Truth’s amazement and appreciation after she fended off the ninjas. She decided to go home and shower instead of using the women’s locker room, she was not supposed to be on Raw and she wanted to avoid arguments from women who still despised her. She picked up her phone.

It was a text message notification from “Mamacita.”

Bayley’s heart hammered in her chest as her thumb fell on the digital display. She assumed that Sasha returned to ignoring her after their time together, because after their trip to the park earlier, she did not contact Bayley. Bayley saw her on Raw Talk tonight, and saw the uneasiness on her face when the Vigilante was discussed.

She breathed deeply and opened the message.

_“I need your help. At the studio.”_

Bayley shoved the phone into her pocket and grabbed her luchador mask from the nightstand.

She pulled her black hood down a little more over her face as she passed by a couple holding hands on the street. She wore a plain black zip up hoodie, thin black sweatpants, and the red skate shoes she wore in her match earlier. She had one hand in her hoodie pocket, anxiously rubbing the slippery material of the red mask between her fingers. Her only friends, the chair and the baseball bat, were not with her since she could not walk the streets of downtown Orlando with weapons. She walked right by Sasha’s office building, instead running into a side alley way. She looked up into the horizon behind the buildings, a large digital billboard display for Smackdown illuminated the night. The figures of Roman Reigns and Sasha Banks loomed large, their championship belts, blue, with the jeweled _W_ , were prominent. Bayley’s stomach lurched a bit when she saw the digital Sasha peering down on her, she hoped dearly that her friend was alright and that she was not too late in arriving. Her heart skipped a beat as something dark scurried in front of her, and she instinctively hid behind a few abandoned boxes. It was just a cat, but this did not relax her. She pressed on in the alley way.

Last year, she frequently visited Sasha’s music studio when they were still best friends. Sometimes she would fall asleep in the bedroom, laying next to Sasha, when they stayed up too late, drinking and listening to samples for the new album. Their laughter filled the studio until sunrise. Now, Sasha probably had other friends that she did this with, people she probably would not discuss with Bayley. And Bayley knew it was none of her business, but those fleeting thoughts still stung like angry bees encircling things that they presumed were flowers.

She arrived at the familiar back door. She looked around the dumpster area, slightly confused that things were too silent and peaceful. Sasha’s message sounded emergent, and Bayley thought someone or something would have interrupted her journey into the studio by now. Bayley sighed as she turned the door knob, it was unlocked. She stepped into the drafty, gray hallway, the light above her flickered and the hallway was deserted. She removed the mask from her pocket and stared at it.

She saw the Firefly Funhouse segment tonight while watching a TV screen from a shadowy portion of a hallway. Bray Wyatt’s voice echoed in her head throughout the night.

_“You can hide behind a mask, but she will never love you.”_

She was afraid. Wearing the mask never completely erased her fears. But like the steel chair, when she betrayed Sasha and brutally attacked her in September, the mask was her security blanket. This is what she had to be now. Because Bayley wasn’t good enough. Bayley failed. Bayley turned her back on Sasha Banks, and likely would never be close to her again.

_But last night…_

Bayley shook her head slightly at the thought. _No._ Sasha was repaying the Vigilante. Or, as she had mused on previously, Sasha just needed someone to warm her bed after a night of wrestling, because she’s the Boss and she gets what she wants.

Bayley pulled down her hood, and placed the red mask with a white rose design over her face.

The Vigilante placed her hood back over head, covering the bits of black hair that were poking out in the back of mask close to her neck. She swiftly sauntered down the hallway, her blue eyes acutely aware of her surroundings. Aware of anything out of the ordinary, because it felt as if the Fiend, Alexa, and Nikki could appear from thin air and they could also vanish like an ephemeral vapor simultaneously. Her heart rate was high, not from the exertion, but from anxiety. Weaponless, but her fists wrapped in black tape would do the talking for her. She stopped by the studio door and listened. She could hear the distant rumble of music. She glanced around again, and also peered up into the nearby stairwell. No one was there.

Her heartbeat quickened. Her throat felt tight.

_Is it too late?_

She opened the door of the studio but lingered on the side of the door, not stepping into the doorway. The music was slightly louder, bass echoed into the hallway. She looked into the studio from around her corner. The studio looked similar to last night and earlier this morning, nothing was out of place or damaged. She clenched her fists as she stepped inside finally, and shut the door, locking it and hoping to shut off the escape of whoever it was that intruded on Sasha.

The Vigilante looked at the back of black leather office chair that was positioned in front of the primary music controls of the studio, the glass wall of the music booth revealed that the microphone was suspended peacefully and the booth was empty. She saw the reflection of the person sitting in the chair that was turned away from her. This person was adjusting a nearby knob on the control panel.

“Boss.”

The Vigilante’s voice was a low growl, slightly muffled by the mask.

Sasha’s reflection smiled at her and then the chair swiveled around. Sasha wore a salmon pink robe, shiny and satin. Her long blue hair draped around her shoulders and her makeup was impeccable. A playful smile danced on her lips. The room was already warm but it felt much warmer now.

“Don’t look so tense, it’s just us. I wondered who would show up tonight. You or Bayley,” Sasha whispered with a chuckle as she rose from her chair and approached the Vigilante.

When she was close enough, her fingers reached out for the zipper on the hoodie and she pulled down. She smiled coyly as she noticed a red sports bra, and the deep, red-purple love bites that she left on her protector’s exposed neck and abdomen. Her nails grazed these bruises, which sent shockwaves of pleasure throughout the masked woman’s senses.

“Did you need me, Boss?” Forced calm, cracks appearing on stone.

“I can’t stop thinking about you.” Desperate, yearning, sensual.

Sasha leaned into her, embracing her, placing her hands under the sweater to touch her skin. The Vigilante wrapped her arms around Sasha as well, and realizing as she touched the thin fabric of the robe, that Sasha was nude underneath it. She thought she was walking into a fight to defend Sasha, a melee with freaks in Halloween costumes, but she walked into a different type of fight. The fight to keep her passions and desires under control, before they consumed the stoic and just image of the Vigilante. The fight to keep her hands on respectful places.

“I called for you…”

Sasha’s voice seemed dreamy as she held her, it seemed to melt with the soft music around them.

“I’ll always be here for you,”The Vigilante responded, also in a whisper.

Sasha’s beautiful brown eyes gazed into the blue eyes of her defender. The blue eyes that seemed so familiar in the past few weeks. She would see them and she would hope that they belonged to the one woman she missed the most in her time as a champion. The woman she thought about every single day, regardless of whether they were friends or enemies.

“I need you tonight,” murmured Sasha.

The Vigilante watched her intensely. “I can be whatever you need me to be.”

At the conclusion of this affirmation, Sasha pulled up the Vigilante’s mask slightly, to once again reveal lips with a light, sparkling gloss. They kissed, and this set off a chaotic chain of movements. In their frenzy, Sasha walked backwards as the Vigilante guided her body, Sasha reached back to the studio control panel for support. She was lifted up slightly and then sat on the panel, her robe opening to expose her naked body as she clutched onto her protector, trying to tear down the black hoodie. Her nails, again, sliding over smooth skin and broad muscles. Sasha swiftly, roughly removed the mask that still covered most of Bayley’s face because she desperately wanted to run her nails and fingers through the short, lustrous hair. They shifted around, fighting the remaining fabric still on their bodies, and on cue, the main volume knob was accidentally turned up almost to the max, so the bass boomed throughout the room as Bayley’s fingers found moisture and Sasha let out yelps and cries of pleasure.

_Wanna be loved every night_

_Wanna know she’s only mine_

_Breathe her in, give me life_

_Got all of these hearts in a line_

_They all wasting their time_

_‘Cause only you do me right_

_Baby, you should pick up the phone_

_‘Cause I’m wondering if you’re alone_

_‘Cause I’m driving down Sunset_

_If you’re around, come get it_

_If you come, come get it_

_I wanna be missed, like every night_

_I wanna be kissed, like it’s the last time_

_Say you can’t eat, can’t sleep, can’t breathe without me_

_I wanna be held, fragile like glass_

_‘Cause I’ve never felt nothing like that_

_Say you can’t walk, can’t talk, go on without me_

\- Hayley Kiyoko, “Wanna Be Missed”


	4. The Red String of Fate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The red string of fate is a theme in Sailor Moon that describes how two people are destined to be together. They are bound by an invisible "red string." Regardless of what path those two people decide to take in life, or even if they separate, they will always end up finding each other again.

Bayley sucked in air quickly through her teeth and lips, in surprise of the freezing cold ointment that touched her skin.

“Oh shush, quit being such a baby,” Sasha teased, as she continued to rub a thick, herbal salve into Bayley’s bruised skin.

“Sash, I don’t think this will work,” Bayley said, cringing due to pain of the bruises and the icy feeling on her back.

“Well, it won’t if you’re going to be so negative,” laughed Sasha, then she drummed her fingers playfully on the tattoo on the back of Bayley’s neck.

Bayley chuckled into the pillow. She was laying naked, prone, on her stomach on Sasha’s bed, they were in a bedroom attached to the music studio. The room had a hazy glow from the multiple candles on the nightstand. Bayley had slept in this room a couple times in the past with Sasha, when they were best friends. They would stay up late into the night, excitedly discussing music and laughing about their experiences as wrestlers as Sasha’s music permeated throughout the studio. Sometimes Sasha would step into the booth and create new music, and sometimes that did not happen; some nights were filled with jokes and chatter, and alcohol. Sometimes they would fall asleep next to each other in this same bed, fully clothed, side by side. This night in this bedroom was different, and Sasha had never lit candles before until now.

Sasha was once again wearing her satin robe as she sat next to Bayley. She felt as if she had memorized every muscle and every curve on her friend’s beautiful body over the past 24 hours. Her fingers traced over the mid-back muscles that supported Bayley’s spine. Her eyes scanned Bayley’s skin, there were several bruises of varying sizes and stages of healing on her back and arms, and a few scars. She knew that the bruises were from Bayley’s recent escapades while masked, and she recognized, uneasily, that the scars were mementos from Hell in a Cell.

During their lovemaking this evening, Sasha noticed Bayley wincing in pain at times when she touched her back. Her hand and nails would grip into Bayley’s soft skin and sometimes, inadvertently, catching a blue, red or purple bruise. Bayley never said anything about her physical pain from her wounds while they were fucking, she was solely focused on obediently pleasuring Sasha. Sasha knew that although the Vigilante appeared hardened and indestructible, the way a mythical hero would appear to the common people, Bayley was human and not immune to harm. She did ask Bayley if she was alright several times, and Bayley would respond with a smile, adorable dimples showing, and bring Sasha to another orgasm.

“Was it really necessary for you to fight Nia tonight?” Sasha asked.

Bayley grinned. “They won’t take me seriously if I ignored her.”

“First, Nia, and then ninjas. Who will you be throwing down with on NXT? You know… you don’t have to do all that. Just focus on Smackdown. Remember when we were on all 3 brands last summer? That was chaotic,” Sasha said with a sigh.

There was a pause as both women thought about their time as the Golden Role Models tag team. Their triumphs and tragedies. Bayley found this silence to be too uncomfortable.

“Sasha, I think Bray knows,” Bayley said suddenly, her words seemed to tumble out of her mouth although she thought about how to bring this up for several hours.

“Knows what? That Alexa and Nikki are crazier than he is?” asked Sasha with a snort.

Bayley did not laugh or smile. “I think he knows that I’m the Vigilante.”

Sasha sighed. “If he knew that, he would’ve exposed you already.”

“I dunno, dude. Who knows what he’s thinking or what Alexa’s thinking, but what they said tonight…” Bayley’s voice trailed off, she was not sure if she could bring herself to say it.

“At their little puppet house? I didn’t pay attention, I don’t listen to nonsense,” remarked Sasha, once again focusing on the bruises on Bayley’s back, rubbing the ointment into her friend’s skin in circular motions.

_She will never love you._

The words replayed in Bayley’s head over and over throughout the night. Even with Sasha’s legs wrapped around her hips, and Sasha’s lips pressed against her ear, whispering encouragement when they were making love. She still heard Bray’s serious, low tone. As if he knew her deepest fear. She wondered if Sasha heard these words tonight too but would not admit it.

“I don’t know what they want but I’ll find out. I’ll protect you,” declared Bayley, she sighed a bit as Sasha rubbed an especially tender spot.

“Sounds like Bliss might challenge for my blue belt, which makes no sense. She really should worry about Asuka and everyone else on Raw like Becky said—” Sasha abruptly stopped talking. She suddenly realized she should not be mentioning Becky, or Charlotte, for that matter. She knew that Bayley likely tuned into Raw Talk and heard her friends’ disdain for the Vigilante. And she probably heard Becky’s comment that there are only three Horsewomen.

“Yeah, Becky’s right about that,” Bayley whispered.

There was a lengthy pause in their conversation. Sasha continued to tend to the colorful bruises, applying light pressure to spread the cooling salve.

“I’m sorry, Bayley.”

Bayley turned on her side, facing Sasha and clutching her hand. “You don’t have to apologize for Becky and Charlotte.”

Sasha was not only thinking of Raw Talk. She thought of the conversations she had in the past few months with Becky and Charlotte. They visited her in the hospital in September, when she was admitted for further monitoring after Bayley tried to break her neck with a steel chair. They were sorrowful, horrified and livid. Sasha, Becky and Charlotte were not perfect, they understood that they did not always treat other wrestlers with kindness throughout their careers, but they agreed in that hospital room that they never acted in the violent way that Bayley chose. None of them ever attempted to end another wrestler’s career in brutal fashion. Sasha was grateful for their support when she feuded with Bayley last fall, Becky and Charlotte were loyal to her and continued to be so. But their loyalty for Sasha meant that they shut out Bayley. They expressed irritation to Sasha when Bayley sent text messages to them. Charlotte responded to Bayley’s texts, in very lengthy messages which she showed Sasha, and she also explained that these would be her last communication with Bayley because Bayley was “unsalvageable.” Becky stonewalled her, and had remarked to Sasha that “The Man does not associate with people like that.” Sasha knew that Becky and Charlotte understood the magnitude of Bayley’s betrayal, only the four of them knew each other that deeply, that thoroughly. Bayley did unforgivable acts and had to be excommunicated from the Horsewomen.

“And you know… maybe they’re right about me. I just make things worse for everyone, maybe my help isn’t needed,” Bayley continued, not meeting Sasha’s eyes and looking at the nearby candlelight.

“Don’t say that. You helped Kairi. You helped Liv, Ruby, Lana, the list goes on and on, Bayley,” Sasha said quietly. Her friend’s low self esteem was disheartening.

“I didn’t, the Vigilante did,” Bayley murmured, finally looking into Sasha’s eyes.

“Bayley, maybe you should get rid of the mask and just be yourself. Tell everyone the truth on Smackdown this Friday,” Sasha suggested in an optimistic tone.

Bayley frowned. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Sash. I need the mask to be close to you without people freaking out, I need it to protect you. And, they won’t believe me even if I told the truth. People don’t trust me, after everything I did to them last year… After what I did… to you.”

Sasha and Bayley both knew at some point, they would have to discuss what happened between them. They seemed to keep this conversation at an arm’s length since their sudden reunion, just occasional mentions and then changing the subject.

Sasha closed the small jar of the herbal salve and put it back into the nightstand drawer. She lay down next to Bayley, snuggling close to her and staring deeply into her warm brown eyes.

“Bayley… I know you’re trying. And you saved me when no one else could. I know you want to punish the wrongdoers in wrestling, but at this point, you’re just hurting yourself. The only person you’re punishing is yourself.”

“I deserve that… and I don’t deserve you,” Bayley whispered with a small smile, she averted her eyes away from Sasha again.

Sasha’s lips curled into a slight frown. “Don’t say that. You’re my friend. And we’re… we’re trying to make things work out again.”

Bayley knew that Sasha was trying to comfort her but she could still feel her heart sinking painfully into her stomach.

_Friend._

_Not even best friend._

“Yeah, a friend that you have to hide from everyone,” Bayley said flatly, her gaze fell slightly on Sasha’s muscular shoulder. She couldn’t look into her eyes.

“You know it’s complicated. What we’re doing now is for the best. We can’t just step out into the public again as if nothing happened and everything’s back to normal. I have my manager to deal with, and Becky and Charlotte, and everyone who relies on me as the Smackdown Champ,” explained Sasha, irritation creeping into her voice. She hated having to say these things to Bayley but she was also annoyed that Bayley ignored the potential consequences of their public union. Her manager, Mel Mack, despised Bayley and thought that Bayley just held her back from greatness and expansion as a mainstream star. And she felt that she would be betraying Becky and Charlotte’s support if she threw Bayley back into their lives.

And, fans on social media would once again be stating that “Sasha Banks has no backbone.”

She had to be methodical about this situation, she could not rush into anything. Although discovering the Vigilante’s true identity in her music studio was completely unexpected. She wanted to see how things unfolded with this “new version” of Bayley. Or maybe, she was back to the “old” Bayley. She trusted Bayley in September in a vulnerable state when she hurt her knee in the ring, and then Bayley struck her down repeatedly. Her trust was slowly building again for her friend but she could not open her heart completely. There was more at stake now with her championship, her business ventures, her mainstream persona, and several executives at the company described her as “the face of women’s wrestling in 2021.” Bayley could harm her again and she would lose everything.

“I’m sorry that I’m a ‘complication’ in your life. Thanks for helping me with these bruises, Boss. I’ll get going,” Bayley said shortly with a frown and she sat up, and turned around to retrieve her clothes.

Bayley paused when she felt Sasha’s arms wrap around her abdomen, and Sasha’s lips pressed against the back of her neck.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. I think we just need some more time to figure out what we’re doing exactly,” Sasha murmured into Bayley’s neck.

Bayley sighed deeply, too afraid to face Sasha. She wanted to address the invisible elephant stampeding around in the room. Too afraid to confirm Bray’s poem, she wished to spare Sasha’s feelings and her own feelings.

“Sasha… what do you want? What are we?” Bayley spoke very quietly, uncertainty plagued her tone. Uncertain of how Sasha would respond to these questions, if these questions were even appropriate since they had only rekindled their “friendship” in the past 24 hours. And the uncertainty of what their relationship truly was. For now, Bayley felt that she carried the label of Sasha Banks’ secret fuck buddy.

She was too afraid to ask…

_Do you love me?_

“You’re my friend, and I want you. Please stay tonight, don’t leave me,” Sasha whispered into Bayley’s ear, then proceeding to softly kiss the back of her neck. Sasha’s bare breasts were pressed against Bayley’s back. She held her tightly, and those words were enough for both women for now.

* * *

Her right hand was numb and her fingers were swelling into mini-balloons underneath her hand wraps. She tried to make a fist but failed, her fingers unable to close around swelling tissue.She was nauseous while climbing to the top of the cell, she feared heights. Heat engulfed them at the top and it felt like the world was spinning. Now, it seemed like any movement would cause the red wires to collapse beneath them, and they treaded carefully. Bayley retreating to the edge while Sasha advanced slowly. Sasha looked like a superhero in all white gear, and she acted like one throughout the match with her grace and acrobatics. Bayley contrasted her while wearing all black ring gear: a black top, cropped black pants and black sneakers. A fighter. Bayley wore this because she knew she was stepping into the biggest fight of her career, and she would not lose everything here.

She would not lose the blue belt because it was all that she had left in this world.

Bayley fell to her knees in pain and started laughing, clutching her broken right hand: “This is what you wanted, huh?! This is what you fucking wanted, you snake!”

“You started this, Bayley, you’re the snake! I’m going to finish what you started,” stated Sasha with gritted teeth as she walked carefully towards Bayley. The red wires that acted as the floor at the top of the cell, slumped and shifted around her white shoes. Bayley watched her look down at the ring below them.

“You’re gonna end me? Is that what you’re gonna do? You fucking bitch! You’re afraid,” laughed Bayley, and her voice cracked from dryness and insanity.

“Bayley, please… we didn’t have to go this far. You’re finished. You can hardly stand and look at your hand,” Sasha said, disgust and concern etched into the soft features of her face.

Bayley braced herself and slowly rose to her feet, swaying a little as she chuckled. She grinned at Sasha’s glare. She felt Sasha’s eyes examining her body, the bruises on her arms that she was ignoring were now shamefully prominent. She had gone too far, further than she could ever imagine. She never fathomed that she could be the Smackdown Women’s Champion for 380 consecutive days. She never imagined that she would be the one to attack a weakened Sasha in September, but she had to do it. For self-preservation. To protect herself from Sasha’s selfish ways. Sasha’s eyes lingered on the blue belt too long, Sasha called her names on social media behind her back. Sasha was going to hurt her, it was only a matter of time.

_Was it wrong that I struck first?_

“I gave you everything. I gave you all I had, Sasha! And I was never good enough for you! You wanted the red belt, you wanted to be 2 Beltz Banks and I gave that to you! So, fuck you!! I’m gonna end your career tonight,” taunted Bayley with another crazed laugh.

“You’ve tried a couple times, and you can’t fucking do it, coward. This was never about the gold, Bayley. This was about me and you. It’s time for me to end you,” Sasha whispered viciously through gritted teeth, tears forming in her eyes.

“C’mon Mamacita!! Show Papi what you got!!” Bayley yelled as her left heel dangerously touched the edge of the cell.

Bayley could tell from Sasha’s shift in expression from disgust to pure rage that her catcalling was a low blow. Sasha ran and lunged at her. Bayley screamed in shock and fear.

This angry leap launched them both from the top of the cell.

* * *

Bayley woke suddenly, gasping for air and looking around frantically. She disconnected herself from Sasha’s embrace and sat up. She felt dizzy; cold, clammy perspiration was on her face and chest. She reached to the right side edge of the bed, her fingers searching for the steel chair that was always at her bedside. It was not there.

“Bay?”

Sasha still felt so sleepy and the digital clock on her nightstand read 5:03 AM. She woke when she felt Bayley shift away from her. She reached out sleepily for Bayley’s arm and noticed that her friend recoiled from her touch.

Bayley had difficulty breathing, she attempted to get as much air as possible into her lungs with deep gasps but still felt out of breath. Her heart pounded within her chest. She woke from her usual nightmare. She glanced at Sasha and looked away quickly. Sasha reached out for her again and pulled her back into bed, under the covers and held her. Sasha caressed Bayley’s hair and scalp as she hugged her.

“Come here, Bay, I’m not going to hurt you… What’s wrong?” Sasha whispered.

Bayley buried her face in Sasha’s chest, wrapping an arm around Sasha’s waist while her hand rubbed Sasha’s lower back. She started to cry. Sasha suddenly felt more awake, gripping Bayley’s body tightly in concern.

“I’m… so sorry, Sasha,” Bayley mumbled through sobs.

“What do you mean?” asked Sasha, she ran her fingers through Bayley’s dark hair.

“What I did to you… the cell…”

Memories that Sasha had blocked away came rushing back, as if a violent waterfall broke through a dam. Bayley suddenly brutalizing her on Smackdown after they lost again to Shayna and Nia, the palpable fright she experienced as Bayley’s deranged figure stalked her by the barricade and Sasha put up her arms for mercy. Her two days at the hospital, and Becky and Charlotte’s stunned and morose faces. The back and forth: Bayley attacking her again, and she was able to get some measure of revenge at Clash of Champions but she hesitated long enough to allow Bayley to retreat. Bayley refusing to sign the contract until Sasha straddled her into a steel chair and forced her to sign.

The Cell.

The Hell that they put each other through. _For what? For gold?_ Gold was the convenient answer. But, maybe this brought closure to their failing friendship. A friendship that was never meant to be. Sasha had deep feelings for Bayley, the ingredients of love but she knew those words were better left unsaid. They had never been intimate until recently. She told Bayley that she loved her in the locker room a couple years ago, expressing platonic love, and she hoped this would be enough to keep repressing the forbidden feelings she had in her heart. The feelings that never really disappeared, even during and after their heated feud.

But a small part of her wondered why she was comforting her attacker… her enemy.

Bayley was able to calm her breathing, slowly and thoughtfully. She mimicked Sasha’s peaceful breathing pattern and she knew that Sasha was helping her. Bayley’s hand traveled down to Sasha’s thigh and squeezed as they held each other.

“Do you remember when we fell from the top of the cell? You held me… you took most of the impact into the table,” Sasha said quietly.

“We should’ve never been in that situation, it’s my fault,” answered Bayley into Sasha’s chest. Sasha was right though. When Sasha jumped at her and they fell, Bayley was frightened but managed to wrap her arms around Sasha to protect her from the impact. Bayley’s back slammed into the announce desk that Cole and Graves had vacated. Even in the hatred that they claimed at the top of the cell, Bayley suddenly realized what was most important to her in the fall.

“Baby… I know you’re making it up to me. You defended me when I was alone,” whispered Sasha in a soothing voice before she planted a kiss on Bayley’s forehead.

“I don’t know if that’s enough,” Bayley responded, tears still streaming down her face.

Sasha thought back to what Bayley said to her at the top of the cell, choosing her answer carefully: “No Bayley, you’re important to me. You are enough.”

“I’m sorry, I thought you would betray me—”

Sasha sighed, gripping some of Bayley’s black hair and pulling her face into view. Bayley’s eyes were red, shiny and she stared up at Sasha in surprise.

“If I wanted to do that, I would’ve done that a long time ago. You know that. And I’m not ignoring the problems we’ve had in our friendship in the past few years. Things are different now, we have new enemies, we have to focus and trust each other,” explained Sasha calmly but firmly.

“I’ll protect you, Sasha. I promise,” murmured Bayley with a watery smile.

Sasha returned her smile. “I know, and I’ll protect you too.”

Sasha had heard Bayley’s promise so many times recently and Bayley’s chivalry never became stale to her.

They kissed. Bayley shifted a bit, gripping Sasha’s thigh and moving Sasha onto her back. Sasha wrapped her hands around Bayley’s neck, while Bayley was on top of her and in between her thighs. Their lips continued to grapple with each other as they held each other tightly, their senses became one in the early morning heat of the bedroom.

They could vow to protect each other. They could comfort each other and keep each other company, like before. But they both were unsure if they could completely devote themselves to the other, to completely love each other. Because things were not always clear. Trust is often the hardest thing to capture and love is sometimes too serious of a word. And the painful memories of the past may not be fully forgiven with Bayley’s heroic efforts, Sasha’s mercy, and their budding romance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for all the kudos and comments!  
> Wear a mask and stay safe!


	5. Point of View

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I appreciate your support, everyone. Thank you to all readers, including the new readers... ;)
> 
> Lyrics for Mariah Carey's “We Belong Together” remix and “Don’t Forget About Us” interspersed throughout chapter, underlined and italicized.   
> Individual character thoughts in italics only.

_If you think you're lonely now, wait until tonight_

Bayley sat on a leather couch in the dim music studio, she was nodding and grinning while listening to the melody permeating throughout the room. The beat was impressive. Intricate patterns of hard-knocking bass and drums were laced with the dark, sonorous vibrations of a violin. Sasha sat in front of her in the leather office chair, and she turned down the music with a control panel knob.

“A producer gave me this beat recently, what do you think?” Sasha asked with a smile.

“Dude, that’s sick,” Bayley answered in awe.

“It’s flames! And now I just have to write some fire lyrics to go along with it,” said Sasha. She picked up her phone from the control panel to open her note-taking app. She wore a casual outfit: a black tank top adorned with yellow moons and stars, black yoga pants and white Jordan basketball shoes. Her long, blue hair held back in a ponytail. In contrast, Bayley also wore dark colors: a black sleeveless top, a thin, dark green camouflage jacket, and dark blue jeans with black skate shoes. Her black hair was neatly parted and shiny.

Bayley smirked. “So how’s the album coming along?”

“Just a few more songs, almost done. Mel hounds me about it,” said Sasha, she added an eye roll when she mentioned her manager.

Sasha was not able to apply her full attention to the album when she was not wrestling because of all of her other ventures. She had a photoshoot and an Instagram live interview earlier in the day. Also, it was Wednesday night, but she spent the past few nights with Bayley.

_I only think of you on two occasions_

_That's day and night_

Bayley’s days were usually lonely but she did not mind since she was busy with training and conditioning. She was in a group text with Seth and Murphy, and they mentioned working out together on Thursday, but that was her only interaction with others. Bayley was too afraid to text Sasha, she did not want to be a bothersome friend with benefits — she knew when she was needed and knew when Sasha likely needed her to disappear. Sasha did not text her during the day, there would usually be one text message in the early evening asking her to come over to the studio. There was always substance behind these messages, although the underlying message was clear. Tuesday night, Sasha asked for her help to rearrange furniture in the studio, and that did occur but the night ended in Sasha’s bedroom. Tonight, Sasha asked her to listen to new beats that she acquired for the album.

Bayley knew she should not be sleeping in Sasha’s bed. Their relationship was mutually beneficial in the cover of night, and publicly, Bayley was Sasha’s masked defender. She was still embarrassed that she woke from another nightmare about Hell in a Cell that startled Sasha awake as well. She knew she should leave after they fucked, but Sasha always convinced her to stay. The warmth of Sasha’s skin, the softness of her lips… Bayley could not resist her. But when a one night stand becomes a three night stand, messy, deep feelings would slowly get involved until they cannot be quieted or ignored. And these feelings were always there subconsciously, even when they truly were best friends. Bayley could not read Sasha at times, and this was still difficult even when their friendship was stronger in the past. It was all so convoluted, but their friendship was never simple. Their friendship had now evolved into what was best for the moment.

“What does Mel think about the album?” asked Bayley, she wanted to pose this question in a different way but thought directness might be too much. During their time as the Golden Role Models last summer, Bayley did help Sasha in the studio with concepts for songs and song titles. But after they became enemies, that likely all changed. Before the Hell in a Cell PPV, Sasha did release a popular rap diss record targeting her, titled “Cut off the Snake’s Head.”

Sasha chuckled. “She changed a lot of stuff but I get the final say.”

Bayley nodded silently, smiled but looked away. Sasha knew what she was thinking about.

“Um… the stuff you and I came up with together last year, she wanted to change it,” Sasha explained with a sigh, watching Bayley apprehensively.

Bayley smiled again and quickly responded, “Oh yeah, definitely. I understand and it’s whatever you wanna do, Boss.”

The songs they thought of together involved the usual hip-hop music fanfare of gold, jewelry, and sitting atop the world while ridiculing their competitors. Those songs were replaced with the topics of betrayal, lost friendships, independence, and ruthlessness. 

“You’re my friend, you can help me with the last few songs for the album. Let’s come up with something tonight,” Sasha offered excitedly.

Bayley grinned, her warm brown eyes finally meeting Sasha’s gaze. “I dunno, dude. What do you think fits with that beat?”

“I actually don’t have any love songs on the album, that might fit…” Sasha’s voice trailed off as she mused on this. She thought about this for a while actually, ever since she reunited with Bayley. She wanted to write about forbidden love, subtle love that had to hide from the public eye to sustain itself. _But was this really love though?_

_Just let it die with no goodbyes_

_Details don't matter, we both paid the price_

Bayley’s facial muscles did a mixture of a smile and a frown. “A love song? On the Boss album?”

“I can’t be one dimensional, Bay, you know that. Every song can’t be about being a Legit Boss. I need something that people can feel deep inside. Something sad, maybe?”

Bayley looked away again, embarrassed by the thoughts bubbling into her mind. The bubbles were becoming a turbulence of curiosity. Almost everything Sasha said was cryptic. _A sad love song? Did she see someone when we weren’t talking? Is she seeing someone else now?_

Or…

Could this be about—

Sasha clapped her hands together suddenly. “I’m just gonna do it! I’m going into the booth, and Bay, go sit at the control panel.”

* * *

_Baby, I must confess_

_We were bigger than anything_

_Remember us at our best_

Sasha greatly enjoyed this. This felt like old times with her former best friend. She repeated a few bars until they sounded just right into the microphone, and she was directing Bayley on the control panel. Bayley sat at the music control panel on numerous occasions in the past and had a good foundation on what she was doing with the different meters, knobs, buttons to adjust the beat and accentuate Sasha’s voice.

“I need that bass to hit a little harder in my headphones,” Sasha said, nodding at Bayley.

Bayley gave her a thumbs up and slowly moved a small lever up until Sasha then returned her thumbs up from inside of the glass music booth.

“Now, where’s my snare? I need that to loop in some more,” commanded Sasha from within the booth as she pointed at Bayley.

Bayley grinned and pressed a button, then adjusted the knob to change the frequency of how often the snare drum appeared in the beat.

“That’s too much,” laughed Sasha into the microphone, “Turn it down… OK, that’s it, baby.”

Sasha’s rapping was smooth and effortless, her voice danced over the intricate beat pattern in a catchy tempo that allured listeners. Bayley was enamored, but honestly, when was she not enamored with Sasha Banks?

The freestyle lyrics were not sorrowful, there were more… intriguing as Bayley listened closely. Bayley pretended to be more interested in the control panel but she had a mix of emotions listening to Sasha rap. This was not a sad love song… this was a friends with benefits song and Sasha bragged about how she did not need anyone but others needed her. How her love is essential: like air, like water; but also, how she does not need to love someone to make them feel special. It was difficult, but Bayley knew she was not the topic of discussion, this likely had nothing to do with her and this is how the Boss is; everyone wants to be with the Boss but she is independent, self-made. Bayley continued to block out her uncomfortable feelings during the session, she had to smile and nod for her friend, because that was more important. She had to put their friendship first, because Sasha often did, and Bayley made critical mistakes in the past.

Sasha watched Bayley as she freestyle rapped in the booth, her friend was grinning proudly while sitting at the control panel. Sasha beckoned to her with her fingers, motioning her to come into the booth. Bayley looked around in mock surprise and pointed at herself, Sasha giggled as she saw her mouth: “you want me in there, Mamacita?”

In the booth, Bayley stood behind Sasha and held her hips. Their bodies swayed with the music as Bayley pressed against Sasha tightly, the heat rising in the booth. Sasha felt Bayley’s body, her energy, and it took a tremendous effort to focus on her music, focus on the microphone. When all she wanted to do was melt in her friend’s strong arms. Slowly, Sasha continued her friends with benefits rap:

_“Dripped up, swagged out, and Papi sees what I’m talking ‘bout /_

_We’re together, the lights are on, havin’ fun, there’s no doubt /_

_She wants the Boss, she needs the Boss /_

_When you’re all alone, give the Boss a shout”_

* * *

_Late nights, playing in the dark_

_And waking up inside my arms_

_…You'll always be in my heart_

For what felt like the millionth time in the past few days, Sasha ran her fingers through Bayley’s hair. Bayley’s perfume was a flowery scent, very alluring, like the roses one would receive on Valentine’s Day. She savored the feeling of soft, shiny black hair in one hand, while her other hand gripped her friend’s powerful, hard back muscles. Bayley smiled into Sasha’s neck, they were both naked in Sasha’s bed after the studio session. Their antics in the booth led them into the bedroom. Bayley was positioned on top, her right hand holding Sasha’s thigh, her left hand clenching the white bed sheets, while Sasha’s legs were wrapped around her hips. Bayley smiled and laughed into Sasha’s neck, her breath heavy on Sasha’s beautiful skin. She craved Sasha’s touch.

Bayley’s lips proceeded down from Sasha’s neck and below her collarbone, she kissed Sasha’s upper chest. She could hear Sasha’s pleasurable gasps, a sweeter sound than the music they created earlier in the evening. Her lips pressed hard into Sasha’s skin, she gripped her flesh between her lips lightly and sucked. Sasha’s gasps were a bit louder and then Bayley suddenly pulled away, and rolled off of her friend to lay on her back beside her.

“Fuck. Sorry.”

She almost left a hickey on Sasha’s chest. Sasha had marked her with quite a few but Bayley knew it was inappropriate for her to do this to Sasha. Sasha, who was always in the media, in the public eye, who so many people were in love with. Based on her song tonight, friends with benefits came easy to the Boss, and they were fun and replaceable. And who knows who else Sasha spent her days with… she never contacted Bayley until night fall. Sasha, who always gets what she wants.

Sasha… who did not belong to Bayley.

“What’s wrong?” whispered Sasha, perplexed, turning to Bayley to rub her arm.

Bayley grinned, embarrassed. “I almost marked you. I’m sorry, I’ll be more careful.”

“Bay, I gave you so many already, it’s really not a big deal,” giggled Sasha, as her fingertips brushed along one of the love bites on Bayley’s neck.

Bayley turned to her left, giving her friend a serious look. “Yeah, um… and it’s none of my business but I shouldn’t do that to you, you’re the Boss so there might be other people you’re with—”

“What? Like who? Are you with someone else?” Sasha asked incredulously, her brows furrowed in concern.

“No!” said Bayley quickly, “I’m just with you, I’m not sleeping with anyone else.”

“I’m just with you too, Bay. C’mon, I’m not like that, I don’t trust many people,” responded Sasha, still irritated with Bayley.

Bayley sighed. “But the song you made tonight, dude… I mean…”

“What about it? Are you being serious right now?!” Sasha interrupted rather loudly, “Bay, you know how rappers are. We have to boast on these songs, it’s all part of the business. Ask my manager, ask Snoop — even ask the fans! Everyone knows that.”

“Dude, I’m sorry—”

“So what is this really about, Bayley? There’s something bothering you, what is it?” asked Sasha.

Bayley shook her head and sighed again, looking away from Sasha due to fear. “Sash, baby… So you’re saying we’re not seeing anyone except each other but you won’t put a label on what this is between us—”

Sasha interrupted her again: “I told you, we’re friends. What other labels do we need? What else do you want?”

Bayley cringed. “Are we doing shit that friends would be doing? We sleep together every night.”

_Made of glass, the way you see through me_

_You know me better than I do…_

Sasha shut her eyes, vexed and bordering into infuriated. She tugged on the bed sheets to pull them up over her nude body and she turned again, staring at Bayley. Bayley was still looking up at the ceiling timidly, laying on her back. Sasha wanted to scream at her. She wanted to point out Bayley’s violent mistakes last fall, the way they punished each other in the cell. She strongly believed that Bayley should just be happy with even being in her life again, let alone sharing her bed. Sasha continued to ponder as she stared at her friend with pursed lips.

She finally spoke, softly, after a long, uncomfortable silence: “I know it’s hard to figure that stuff out now. We haven’t talked in so long and just got back together as friends on Sunday. If this is not a good situation for you, I understand, and we can stop. We can try to go back to the way our friendship was before.”

“I’m sorry, Sasha. I really… I really love being with you like this. And I’m here to be whatever you need me to be, you know that,” Bayley whispered, turning her gaze to Sasha.

“I need you to be my friend, Bayley. And I also like when we spend time together like this. I like waking up in your arms every morning,” Sasha said quietly with a smile.

Bayley returned her smile. “I like that too. Well, if we’re only seeing each other, it’s like we’re in a relationship… or something.”

Sasha chuckled. “In a strange way… but I’m not sure if that’s what I need right now. My life has become so crazy busy.”

The muscles in Bayley’s heart twitched painfully. Sasha caught the change in Bayley’s expression. Sasha moved closer to her in bed, then rested her head on Bayley’s chest as Bayley put an arm around her.

“Things are different between us, I know we’re trying to make our friendship work out. I’m yours and I hope you’re mine,” Sasha whispered, her fingers drawing circles on Bayley’s abs.

Bayley’s heart skipped a few beats and she held her breath at those words.

“Always. Sash, I belong to you,” Bayley said, breathing heavily as Sasha’s fingers traveled down her abdomen. After everything that was said tonight, after blocking out her own pain, Bayley could not resist Sasha’s whims.

Still, even after an evolution in their relationship, they still could not find the right words, or possibly, the right word is there but left unsaid because it was easier to live in nuance and innuendo. It was easier to continue the half-measures of their best friendship, and to continue to repress the deeper feelings of love because, maybe the time was not right yet.

“I want you, Bayley, and I want your mark on my chest. It’s not fair that I did that to you, so you should do it to me,” Sasha suggested seductively.

“Are you sure…?”

Before anymore words could leave Bayley’s lips, Sasha was kissing her again. Firmly. Ferociously. Grabbing onto Bayley’s strong body, hoping to never let go.

_I wanna love me_

_The way that you love me_

_…For all of my pretty and all of my ugly too_

_I'd love to see me from your point of view_

_I wanna trust me_

_The way that you trust me_

_‘Cause nobody ever loved me like you do_

_I'd love to see me from your point of view_

\- Ariana Grande, "POV"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sasha's freestyle rap inspiration was actually the ultimate friends with benefits song: Kirko Bangz "Drank in my Cup"


	6. Pain or Play

Bayley continually glanced behind her, she took this opportunity whenever Seth gazed occasionally outside of the window as he droned on and on. She sat in a booth in a diner with Seth and Murphy, they had brunch together after training at Seth’s crossfit gym. Bayley was glancing at the counter because Alexa, Nikki, and Bray were perched there, chatting excitedly about pancakes. Bayley and her group already finished their food, and waited for their check as they sipped on coffee.

“Bayley.”

Bayley’s head whirled around quickly to look at Seth when he called to her.

“Have you been paying attention at all?” he asked in a stern tone.

“Yeah, dude. I heard you the first 50 times, I get it! They won’t be a problem on Smackdown tomorrow, we got this in the bag,” said Bayley confidently as she punched Murphy playfully on the arm. Murphy sat next to her in the booth, he nodded silently in agreement, while Seth sat in front of them.

Seth’s eyes flashed angrily. “Role Model, this is not a joke. We need to take this seriously. Murphy and I are currently on a losing streak as a tag team, and now we’re in this big 3 person tag match tomorrow! We open the show, so we can’t mess this up!”

“Dude! How many times are you gonna repeat this? Don’t worry, calm down, Seth. I’m not worried about the Street Profits or Bianca tomorrow,” chuckled Bayley. She attempted to exude bravado even though she too was nervous about tomorrow’s match. She, Murphy, and Seth were facing the Smackdown Tag Team Champs, the Street Profits and Bianca Belair in a 3 person mixed tag match.

“Well, if you remember on Sunday night, Bianca eliminated you from the Rumble in about 5 seconds,” Seth said gruffly, crossing his arms.

Bayley sighed and frowned. “Dude, don’t remind me. There won’t be a repeat of that. She’s done for.”

“We need a win—”

Seth was interrupted by the arrival of their waitress, a young woman with long, wavy brown hair and green eyes.

“Excuse me,” she said politely, then placed the check down on the table, she slid the paper to Bayley.

Seth cleared his throat and glanced sideways at Murphy.

“I can take that,” Murphy said hurriedly, reaching over for the check.

The waitress gave him a cold look and moved the check even closer to Bayley, and Bayley noticed that the waitress wrote her name and phone number on the receipt.

“This is for you only, Daddy,” the waitress remarked to Bayley with a grin.

Murphy’s eyebrows raised high into his forehead. Seth’s mouth opened and he appeared delightfully shocked. Bayley looked up at the woman, smiling sheepishly. The woman winked, smiling broadly at Bayley before walking away.

“Here Murphy, maybe she’ll like you if you call her,” joked Bayley, sliding the paper over to Murphy.

“But really, what’s the whole Daddy and Papi thing? I keep seeing that on Twitter when fans tweet you,” Seth said with great amusement.

“Oh, you look at their tweets?” chuckled Bayley, “I dunno, dude. I don’t pay attention to that stuff.”

“You’re popular with the ladies. So… are you dating anyone?” Seth questioned with a gossiping sparkle in his eyes.

Seth was usually in a bad mood or too serious for her liking so this was very odd to hear that question from him. Bayley grinned shyly.

“What kinda question is that? Not exactly—”

“Well, you are or you aren’t,” Murphy piped in finally, he was silent for most of the conversation and Bayley was often surprised whenever Murphy spoke when they all hung out together.

“He’s right. So, who’s the lucky man or woman, Bayley?” Seth asked with a laugh.

Bayley sighed with exasperation and she glanced around again. “Hey! I don’t ask you guys all that stuff… well, are you guys with anyone?”

Interestingly, Seth and Murphy looked away, avoiding her gaze and each other’s gaze in an uncomfortable silence.

* * *

She could not stifle a smile when she saw a text message notification from “Papacito” pop up on her smartphone display. Sasha was having brunch at an upscale restaurant with Charlotte and Becky. Throughout that morning, Sasha fidgeted nervously with her white top that had a deep plunge, Bayley left a love bite on her upper chest that she covered with makeup today but she still felt self conscious as if even the most powerful concealer in the world would not hide Bayley’s symbol of passion. Becky glanced down at Sasha’s phone too and whistled, setting her wheat toast down on her plate.

“Papacito, eh?” Becky said with a humorous glint in her eyes, enunciating the vowels.

“What? Becky, stop looking at my phone,” laughed Sasha, turning her phone over on the table.

“Who’s the lucky guy?” Becky continued, picking up her toast again to take a bite.

Charlotte scoffed, smiling with a champagne glass filled with orange juice in hand. “Becks, she doesn’t have to tell us if she doesn’t want to.”

“Char has a point, mind your own business!” Sasha said with a loud, sharp laugh.

Becky shrugged, munching on her toast.

“But… we are curious, aren’t we?” Charlotte grinned over at Becky before glancing back at Sasha.

“Did they put alcohol in your drink?” Sasha joked, “Really… it’s nothing serious. Just someone I talk to every now and then.”

“Roman Reigns?” Becky said swiftly before filling her mouth with food again, she stared determinedly at Sasha.

Sasha’s jaw dropped. “What? No!”

“We saw the photoshoot, Sasha, you have lots of chemistry with him,” giggled Charlotte, the orange juice swishing around in her glass as she laughed.

“You’re drunk Char and it’s not even noon! We’re just friends,” protested Sasha, her face stony.

“This is only orange juice! And you know, he did ask us what we had planned for your birthday next week,” Charlotte said before finally sipping from her glass.

The topic that Sasha knew would arise in the conversation was finally mentioned. She looked away, uncomfortable.

“Don’t be so shy, Boss. We’re going to surprise you on your special day, and we thought we’d warn you first since you don’t seem like the type to like surprises. You’re gonna love it!” explained Becky.

“Yeah… and um, have you guys talked to Bayley at all about this?” asked Sasha quietly.

“Why the fuck would we do that?” Becky asked, exchanging confused looks with Charlotte.

“My birthday might be a good time to um, include her back in our group,” Sasha said, and her tone became more uncertain as the looks from her friends at the table became more and more confused.

“Are you sure you’re not drunk?” teased Becky with a raucous laugh.

“You can’t be serious,” Charlotte said skeptically with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, how long are we gonna do this to her?” Sasha said, annoyed.

Becky looked at Sasha in astonishment. “Are ya fucking kidding? Didn’t we decide that we’re done with that monster? After what she did to you… and did you see what happened to her at the Rumble? It’s embarrassing that she was ever a part of us in the first place.”

Bayley was swiftly attacked and easily tossed over the top rope by Bianca at the Royal Rumble and everyone remarked that this was the fastest elimination in the history of the Rumble.

“She was our friend for a long time, maybe let’s give her a chance—”

Sasha was interrupted by a loud chuckle from Charlotte’s red lips.

“No, we’re not going to let her ruin your special day, Sasha. We trusted her, and she tried to end your career. She’s not your friend, she’s not our friend. When she betrayed you, she betrayed all of us.”

“We’ve talked about this so many times, we should—” Sasha abruptly stopped talking because her phone started ringing. She quickly turned it over. Her manager, Mel Mack was calling her.

“Becky, Char, sorry — I have to take this,” she said hurriedly and stood up. She answered the phone as she was exiting the restaurant.

“Hey Mel.”

“Boss! What is all this on social media?”

“What?—”

“These kids posted photos of you a couple days ago, and what’s this about a bodyguard?” Mel snapped, highly irritated.

“What the hell—”

Mel interrupted her again: “You were at a Japanese bakery on Monday and some kids in wrestling shirts took pictures with you, and they said your bodyguard was the photographer!”

_Shit._

“Oh yeah, they were fans. What’s the problem?” Sasha asked hesitantly, hoping that Mel would stop mentioning the bodyguard situation.

“Did you hire someone to be your bodyguard? If you want to hire someone, I need to know so that I can budget out the finances. And do you even need a bodyguard?” Mel questioned dubiously.

“It’s fine, it was just a one time thing! I paid her for that one time and that’s it, she’s not on my payroll,” answered Sasha, keeping her tone even.

She always had this strange feeling that Mel could see right through her, that Mel knew if someone was lying.

“Alright… and one of the kids has a hit tweet saying she thinks your bodyguard is Billie,” said Mel.

“Billie Kay?” Sasha was so confused at this point.

“I don’t know! I don’t remember the names of all of your co-workers… you know, Billie! Your best friend turned enemy?”

“Oh! You mean Bayley!” giggled Sasha but then she returned to a serious tone, “And no, what the hell! Fans these days will say anything on social media. The bodyguard was definitely someone else. I don’t even talk to Bayley anymore.”

There was a short pause.

“Hm. Alright, there are now plenty of conspiracy theories on Twitter and Instagram on who this bodyguard is and the majority of them say that you are back with Bayley.”

“Mel, are you really looking at fan tweets and fan posts as reliable sources? You sound so insane right now. I don’t have a bodyguard, the bodyguard was a one time thing and I’m happy that person was around because I didn’t know fans would run up on me at a bakery,” Sasha declared defiantly.

“OK Boss, what was the name of the person you hired?” Mel asked slowly.

Another pause.

Sasha thought quickly, anxiety rising up in her voice. “I don’t even remember at this point. Monday seems so long ago! I’m so busy, I can’t remember every single little detail of each and every day!”

“Are you sure you’re OK? I saw you that morning and you seemed so out of it. You seem off right now, and I’m worried about you, Boss,” Mel said solemnly.

“Don’t worry, really, I’m fine. I’m just busy with the usual work drama but I’m good. I’ll let you know if I need anything. I have to go.”

They said their good-byes and Sasha ended the call. Sasha sighed, her palms were sweaty. She looked around, thinking of what to do next. She stood on the sidewalk of a busy street, she felt dizzy as cars zoomed past her. She had to tell Bayley. They had to be more careful.

* * *

The playground was deserted, but it was always deserted at this time of night.

Alexa Bliss sat in a swing, her hands gripping the metal supporting the swing and her shoes swept lazily over the sand beneath her. Her hands were covered in fingerless white gloves, the words “pain” and “play” on the side of each glove. Her bright blonde hair was in neat pigtails, the ends of her hair were a shocking pink color. She wore a colorful pink and blue t-shirt with unicorn designs, denim shorts and white sneakers. Her best friend, Nikki Cross, sat in the swing next to her, clad in a white sleeveless top, frayed denim vest, purple jeans with several holes, as well as purple and black sneakers. Bray Wyatt sat in front of her on the wood boundary that separated the swings from the rest of the playground that they inhabited. He wore his usual red sweater with black jeans, and black boots.

They were giggling about their recent adventures and discussing the ice cream they enjoyed earlier in the evening. They decided to use this Thursday before Smackdown as an off day, to catch up on rest and fun.

A biting, frigid breeze cut through the nighttime heat, ruffling their clothing. They stopped talking abruptly. Alexa noticed that the sky above them was suddenly cloudless, and she did not remember the moon shining this brightly before. Now, the moon felt like a spotlight, illuminating the dark scene of the playground. Alexa found the moon to be harsh, intrusive, as if it brought light to the privacy of her friendships with the people she adored all around her. Several red rose petals mixed in with the passing breeze, and the petals scattered throughout the sand around them. Bray grinned devilishly as he watched the petals fall to the ground, he could not stifle his giggles and glee. Nikki glowered at the petals and then glanced around. But Alexa took her time. She peacefully watched each petal fall gracefully to the sand, like bloody feathers from a wounded bird. She could hear a nearby crunching noise, footsteps approaching on the sandy playground. The breeze subsided, the petals dispersed all around them like dangerous still life, heralding the approach of the person that Alexa had waited for all night. The person who she knew was following them throughout the day. She finally looked up from gazing placidly at the rose petals, and she looked to her left.

The Vigilante of the women’s division was walking towards them, her usual baseball bat and steel chair were missing. She was in her familiar uniform of a black zip up hoodie, the hood covering her head, but this hoodie was unzipped fully to reveal a black tank top; she also wore loose black sweatpants and black skate shoes. Her luchador mask was a brilliant white, with a red rose design on the left cheek, blue eyes could be seen from the eye openings of the mask but otherwise the mask completely covered her nose and mouth. As she approached closer, Alexa noted that the woman was strangely wearing a piece of black tape on either side of her neck.

Bray stood up while Nikki hopped off the swing and they faced the Vigilante. Alexa was the last to move, she lazily rose from sitting on the swing.

“Hey Rose Face, did you walk out of the nearest Hot Topic?” jeered Nikki, and she smiled when Bray giggled at her joke.

There was a long pause, it was silent except for Bray and Nikki’s laughter filling the warm night air. Alexa thought she saw an outline of a slight smile on the Vigilante’s mask.

“I could ask the same of you,” the masked woman whispered, her voice a soft growl.

Bray whooped into more gales of laughter while Nikki frowned. Nikki reached into her jeans pocket and suddenly pulled out a small, shiny item, then she clicked a button on the item with her thumb and everyone discovered that she was armed with a switchblade. Bray stopped laughing to give Nikki a bewildered look. Alexa’s expression became flat as she gazed at the weapon in Nikki’s hand. The Vigilante stared, unblinking, at Nikki. Nikki took a menacing step forward.

“I’m already tired of you and no one has taught you any manners yet. You know, it’s rude to follow us,” Nikki stated through gritted teeth, she gripped the switchblade so tightly that her knuckles looked very pale.

“Ah, well you know what they say about stalkers—” Bray started in a bright tone.

“Enough. Then fight me, Cross,” challenged the Vigilante, her voice barely audible and somewhat muffled by the mask, but still dangerous.

Nikki’s eyes widened in a wild expression of fury but she was held by Bray before she could charge at the masked woman. He laughed as Nikki struggled in his grip, and he seemed to be ignoring the knife that Nikki was waving around.

Alexa smiled at her friends peacefully before turning back to the masked woman. “That’s not why you’re here, you don’t want a fight. If you did, you’d have your little bat and your little chair. So, tell us, how can we help you?”

The Vigilante stared at Alexa, like a statue, and did not answer. Nikki’s struggle and Bray’s laughter echoed throughout the playground.

Alexa looked around at her friends, and motioned her head to the side. “Bray, Nikki, give us a moment alone, please.”

Bray gave Alexa an exaggerated frown, then he suddenly smiled childishly before releasing Nikki and walking away. Nikki lingered, staring at the Vigilante with deep hatred, the switchblade twitching in her right hand. She relaxed when Alexa touched her wrist.

“I’ll be fine, baby. She won’t hurt me. Go with Bray,” Alexa murmured to Nikki. Her voice was pleasant, sweet but still commanding.

“I’ll be watching, Lexi,” said Nikki gruffly, not taking her eyes off the masked woman before she started walking in Bray’s direction in the playground.

Alexa sighed as she watched them saunter away, then she slowly turned her attention to the Vigilante. Alexa peered into the ice blue eyes of the taller woman, her own light blue eyes had a red glint that was accentuated by the moonlight above them. Her lips curled into a coquette smile as her eyes fell on the Vigilante’s torso, her eyes hungrily admiring the well built body before her.

“My, my… you really are everything they say about you,” Alexa whispered flirtatiously.

There was another lengthy pause in the conversation. Alexa took this time to examine the woman in front of her, her smile becoming wider as her eyes fell on certain areas of anatomy. She moved closer to the Vigilante. Alexa reached out slowly, gently grasping onto one of the drawstrings on the woman’s pants. The woman did not flinch, she was unyielding and her eyes continued to gaze at Alexa. Unblinking.

“What do they say?” The Vigilante asked in a soft, measured tone, still standing immobile.

“That you’re mysterious, brave, sexy…” Alexa’s voice trailed off as she focused on the Vigilante’s tight black tank top and the drawstrings of her pants. The Vigilante watched her silently.

“But you know,” Alexa continued with a grin, “I feel so sorry for you. People only wear masks to hide their pain.”

“What do you want on Smackdown?” A harsh, abrupt whisper from unseen lips.

Alexa giggled and tugged on the drawstring. “I was waiting for you to say something about Smackdown. Finally! Oh, and did she send you here to ask that?”

The Vigilante blinked.

“Oh, c’mon. Don’t give me that. Let’s be adults here and tell the truth. I know what you want and I know who sent you,” teased Alexa.

“No one sent me. Answer my question, Bliss.” Tested patience, and a harsh, low growl.

“I like the color blue. Can you blame me?” Alexa laughed loudly, “There’s something blue and shiny that I want. And I know you’re helping her… but if you can help me, then I have something very special for you.”

A pause.

Alexa released the drawstring and then her fingers started to creep up the Vigilante’s abdomen, stopping at a few light red marks on her chest. Alexa stopped smiling and looked very seriously into the taller woman’s ice blue eyes.

“I know she did this to you. Love doesn’t have to hurt like that. I can show you, if you’d let me,” Alexa whispered tenderly.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. And I help no one. You need to stay on Raw, stay away from Smackdown.” The growl was slightly louder, and more familiar to Alexa’s ears.

“I can look into your eyes and I know what your heart wants. I can take the pain away. Join our cause, and join me,” Alexa said, a trance-like nature to her voice. She looked deeply, lovingly, into the Vigilante’s eyes. Alexa’s fingertips still brushing over the red love bites.

“No. Stay away from the Smackdown belt,” repeated the Vigilante, her stoic nature was breaking down and anger rising in her voice. She turned her head quickly when she heard an eruption of voices from within the playground. She noticed that Bray was giggling profusely about something Nikki showed him on her phone.

The Vigilante’s attention was quickly brought back to Alexa, as the blonde woman gripped her chin and pulled her face back towards her. Her touch was gentle but powerful.

“She doesn’t love you.”

The Vigilante’s jaw relaxed within Alexa’s grip, her eyes softened after Alexa’s proclamation. Alexa looked into her eyes, searchingly, like an x-ray.

“But I will love you. Bayley, let me in,” Alexa’s voice was so soft, empathetic.

The Vigilante’s throat went dry, her heart beat seemed to slow down and she became more conscious of her heart’s movements in her chest. She stared at Alexa, completely unnerved. Disturbed at Alexa’s revelation.

Alexa smiled up at her and kissed her cheek, close to the rose design on her mask. Alexa’s kiss sent electricity throughout her body and her vision was suddenly clouded by a deep red color. The Vigilante could feel Alexa release her chin, and she looked around wildly as the world was drenched in red. It was as if blood was in her eyes.

Bayley ripped the mask off her face in her blindness, and then the world returned back to focus. She stood alone in the dark playground. She glanced around nervously, Alexa was gone. Nikki and Bray who were standing off in the distance before, had now disappeared. Bayley fell to her knees on the sand, she felt weak and nauseous. She was sweating, and she sputtered and coughed, her luchador mask slipping out of her hands and onto the ground. She saw with dismay that Alexa’s pink lipstick had left a kiss imprint on the white mask.

_Hills have eyes, the hills have eyes_

_Who are you to judge? Who are you to judge?_

_I only call you when it's half-past five_

_The only time I'd ever call you mine_

_I only love it when you touch me, not feel me_

_When I'm fucked up, that's the real me_

_When I'm fucked up, that's the real me_

\- The Weeknd, "The Hills"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading.  
> Be a Role Model, wear a mask like Bayley. Stay safe!


	7. Tell me about despair

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is for someone who wanted to see BayLiv. You know who you are, and thank you.  
> More Baysha in the next chapter.  
> Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays!

You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees

for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body

love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain

are moving across the landscapes,

over the prairies and the deep trees,

the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,

are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -

over and over announcing your place

in the family of things.

\- Mary Oliver, “Wild Geese”

Drizzles of rain finally broke through the forming clouds above, creating a hazy view of the city lights. Greens, purples, reds, all obscured through this evening mist. Or maybe, it was just her vision. She rubbed her eyes again. Still, everything looked the same. She rolled up her sweater sleeves to her elbows, the rain lightly patting her skin. Tattoos exposed. It was a warm, uncomfortable rain, while the atmosphere was already drenched in the Florida heat. Even the absence of the sun did not provide relief. She looked up into the sky, into the treacherous gray clouds that seemed to mock her misfortune with precipitation. She blinked ruefully, sighed, and looked forward again into the city lights.

She made no eye contact with others as she walked on a busier sidewalk, her left hand pulling the black hood down further to shield her eyes while her right hand was in her pants pocket which contained a familiar fabric. Her fingers clutched tightly to the mask she removed in a frenzy of desperation tonight. Without the baseball bat or the chair at her side, the mask was her security blanket. It felt more like her real face. Without the mask, sometimes she felt dishonest and unworthy. She saw the looks in the locker room, noticed the sideways glances in catering, the jokes at the Rumble.

When she wore the mask, those same faces were instead joyful, in awe.

Bayley felt sick. Her stomach churned as she walked quickly. Her phone vibrated several times in her pocket.

_Sasha._

She thought about telling her that she did not feel well, and walking back home to sleep in her own bed alone. She knew that the text messages were probably another request that Sasha created to lure her into the music studio late at night. She dearly wished to hold Sasha in bed though, her friend’s soft skin pressed against her own under the warm blanket. Sasha’s blue hair often draped over her skin, also soft and comforting, and beautiful. She craved Sasha’s touch, and thought about Sasha’s bright fingernails and gentle fingertips on her back, Sasha’s hands sweeping upward and her nails digging into her neck and undercut. Sasha’s moans of pleasure in her ear. Bayley always thought about these things. Even before the benefits, in the weeks prior when they were not friends, Bayley thought of Sasha’s touch often - her hugs and caresses.

Now, she failed Sasha Banks again. Alexa Bliss confirmed that she knew Bayley’s secret. The mystery of the Vigilante was a source of power, and now that power evaporated. Alexa was pursuing the Smackdown title, possibly because double champions are still trendy in the wrestling world and because the Fiend was filling her head with reflections of conquering the division. Bayley would keep standing in their way, like she did tonight, because Sasha deserved to be champion and she did nothing to spark the ire of these clowns.

Sasha deserved the world.

And Bayley knew she could not give Sasha the world.

_But I’ll give her myself._

In comparison, Sasha was her entire world. And she was afraid to tell her that. And it made Bayley nauseous knowing that she was kissed by someone else tonight, not by the woman she fell in love with.

* * *

Liv Morgan really thought that a greeting would be enough. She stepped out of her apartment to run into a convenience store to fulfill her craving for snack foods, and she ran into three drunk men who recognized her as “that hot wrestler chick.” They followed her on the street, jeering and obnoxious, continuing to seek her attention. The air was growing colder although the rain felt unusually warm on Liv’s skin. Liv could feel the goosebumps rising on her forearms while her own irritation filled her chest, her face flushing red in anger.

“Hey guys, stop following me,” Liv said, finality in her words.

“Or what?” laughed one of the men drunkenly.

Liv breathed heavily, and strangely, the air she puffed out of her lips seemed to create a frost in front of her in the night air.

In this chill, the men’s laughter was strangled into a halt. Everything happened so suddenly that Liv dropped her plastic bag of snacks and stepped back.

A metal trash can lid collided with a man’s head, and he dropped suddenly like the bag. The other men whirled around, wide eyed and frightened. A shin to the groin area, and the bent apart lid again crashed into a skull again but this time, the base of the skull. This man crumpled into the rain soaked side walk. The last man was backing away with his arms out in surrender at the dark figure approaching. Liv watched the scene apprehensively, she knew she should run but she was transfixed on this violence.

The drunk man stopped, he could not move backwards any further and felt the cold stone of a building behind him.

His voice was frantic, panicked. “Please… please don’t. What d'you want? You can have my wallet!"

He looked into piercing blue eyes and a white mask framed with a black hood. This person did not seem human. He suddenly felt himself choking, sputtering for air as his attacker wrapped her hands around his neck, she further shoved him into the wall.

“Tell her you’re sorry.” A whisper. So soft. Dangerous.

It seemed like the words came from the mask, there was an outline of lips on the shiny mask but he did not see them move. His face reddened, he could hardly breathe, his lips purpled.

“What?…” he managed to stutter out, the strong grip around his larynx was applying deadly pressure.

Wrong answer.

Swiftly, the hands around his throat tightened even more, his shoes skidded around in the wet gravel, his lungs were desperate for air. The masked figure smashed the back of his head into the stone wall, and her blank face grew nearer. Blue eyes unblinking, tinted with madness and fury. He was slowly losing consciousness from the lack of air but her yell caught his attention.

“I said apologize to her, you fucking asshole!”

“I’m s-sorry! Please! I’m… s-sorry!” he choked out in Liv’s direction, almost sobbing.

The Vigilante’s grip slackened when she felt Liv’s hand on her shoulder.

“Hey… I think he gets the point, V,” Liv whispered calmly.

The Vigilante violently threw the man aside, using the brute strength in her upper body. He collapsed to the ground. She picked up the forgotten trash can lid, she roughly flattened the bent areas before bashing it repeatedly onto his head and neck. The sobs broke free from his lips.

“Hey! V!” Liv called, and she reached out for the masked woman again. At Liv’s touch, the Vigilante stopped and threw the destroyed lid down at the man’s bloody, battered face before turning around to walk away into the rain.

“Hey!”

She continued walking away as Liv called out to her, Liv’s footsteps were fast approaching though. Another touch on the shoulder and the luchador turned around quickly, and they almost collided into each other. Liv’s reflexes helped her step aside in the side walk to avoid contact, she was clutching the plastic bag again.

“V… um. Thank you. You didn’t have to do that but, um, are you OK?” she asked the masked woman uncertainly.

The Vigilante stared at Liv for a moment, and then looked away, shutting her eyes. She felt ill again, sick to her stomach. Alexa’s little trick earlier in the night that clouded her sight still affected her. She was also nauseous because of her recent actions, she overreacted and left three men incapacitated in the street.

“Liv… are you alright?” A low growl, almost inaudible even over the light drizzle of rain.

Liv smiled sweetly, swinging the bag by her side shyly. “Well yeah, I feel better now that you’re here.”

The masked woman stared at Liv, and Liv thought she saw a shadow of a smile. The woman turned away again, and her left arm was outstretched towards a nearby window pane of a building, as if using these structures to guide herself as she sauntered. Liv frowned as she watched.

The Vigilante could feel waves of nausea pulsate through her stomach, her face felt warm and her mouth started to water in preparation for acid. She wanted to take off her mask and vomit in the street but she knew Liv was still nearby.

“V, wait!” Liv arrived by her side again, and hugged her arm to support her.

* * *

The Vigilante had pushed her mask up a bit over her lips to drink water. The water was cool and soothing, she did not realize exactly how thirsty she was until now. She was sitting at Liv’s dinner table, and Liv sat across from her, in a black crop top and plaid shorts. Liv looked away politely as the mask lifted up to reveal lips with a glittering gloss.

She knew this was a terrible idea. She should not have accepted Liv’s offer to rest and have a drink of water. But she was not sure how much longer she could traverse in the street without getting publicly sick. Now, her stomach felt a little more settled and less turbulent. She set the water bottle down on the table and peered over at Liv, colorful gummy candy was in front of Liv, this was part of her bounty from the convenience store. The Vigilante decided not to lower her mask over her lips again, she left her face mostly concealed. Before she spoke, she was careful in how the words escaped her vocal cords, mindful of the sounds of her vowels and syllables. She had trained her voice over time, to disguise her voice as much as she disguised her face. She often opted to speak in a whisper or a growl, which was a stark contrast from the loud, high pitched bravado of the Role Model.

“Thank you.”

Liv looked at her nervously, her gaze switching between the beautiful blue eyes before her and the colorful candy in front of her. This woman always made her nervous. Her savior, her protector… and she could not resist the physical attraction.

“V…” Liv murmured carefully, and she felt like sometimes this letter was her favorite letter and would often find excuses to insert it into conversations.

The Vigilante stared at Liv as she brought the water bottle back up to her lips, to take more grateful swigs.

Liv’s gaze fell on her again. Liv examined the outline of the mystery woman’s lips, the black hood that draped loosely over the masked face. The shiny white mask, the red rose design on the left side that also had some type of pink stain adjacent to it. There were light red lesions on the woman’s chest, below her collarbones, and there were curious strips of black tape on either side of her neck. Liv mused on these things, and she also thought about how she had never seen the Vigilante outside of the Thunderdome. The night felt surreal. But the only thing that was real, that although the Vigilante’s appearance seemed odd and her actions tonight were brutal, Liv was completely and fully enamored with her.

This woman rescued her and Ruby Riott several times in the past couple of months. And she and this Vigilante did have an intimate moment weeks ago that was always on her mind. She noted a slight upturn in the Vigilante’s lips, the tenderness in the blue gaze, and these features suddenly seemed familiar to her. The gentle constellation of characteristics were something she had seen before, but it felt like a dream, like a dream one would chase every night, and each night revealed one more piece of the mystery. She knew this person but could not directly put a finger on who this was exactly.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t of… I shouldn’t of attacked those guys like that. I just…” The low growl trailed off, lips still slightly open to display bright, perfect teeth.

Liv tried to smirk. “They were following me. Just some annoying drunk dudes. I think they would have run away even if they just saw you standing there. But, maybe tonight will be a lesson that they shouldn’t be stalking women in the street.”

Her protector smiled and Liv’s heart skipped a beat.

_That smile. So familiar._

_Comforting._

_Sexy._

Liv desperately tried to find words to fill the awkward silence in the air, she could feel her heart pounding in her chest and this was becoming more chaotic as the woman continued gazing at her and smiling at her.

“You c-could stay tonight. Just stay… the rain’s getting worse and you look pale. You can rest here, Ruby won’t be here tonight since she’s with her family,” Liv stammered nervously, her blue-grey eyes looking down again at the candy in front of her.

If Liv had more courage within her soul in this moment of truth, she would have added: _You can sleep in my bed with me, if you want._

“Thank you. But I should go,” The Vigilante whispered, there was appreciation in her tone.

“Who are you?” Liv blurted out, unexpectedly.

The Vigilante blinked at her, and pursed her lips. Liv’s heart beat became more chaotic again, she was anxious that this question was upsetting but she had asked this woman so many times in the past without an answer.

Silence filled the kitchen but when Liv listened closely, the harsh patter of heavy rain could be heard outside. The Vigilante continued to stare at her, lips unmoving and did not answer her question.

Liv chuckled nervously and looked away as she spoke: “Whenever I need you, you show up. Whenever I’m alone and lost… you’re there for me. And I know, I know you’re one of us on the roster. I’m not going to tell anyone if you take your mask off. But I think I should know who my hero is.”

Silence and more blinking.

Liv sighed, still looking away and fidgeting nervously in her seat. She was shocked when the Vigilante reached out and held her hands that anxiously tapped on the table. She was forced to look into her defender’s pretty blue eyes again. Liv breathed slowly and steadily, she could feel herself melting into this woman’s strong touch.

“I can’t tell you. It’s for your own protection.” A gentle, mellow whisper that sounded very familiar to Liv’s ears.

“Why?” Liv asked.

The Vigilante smiled sadly and briefly looked away before her intense gaze returned to Liv. “You don’t want to know, and I hope you never find out why.”

Liv felt steadied while her hands were held by the calloused hands of her hero. Hands that she knew gripped heavy weights in the gym, hands that protected, shielded those who needed it the most. She had to respect the masked woman’s privacy but she did not want the night to end. Her own voice surprised her.

“Just stay, V. Please stay,” she repeated to the Vigilante, “You can keep the mask on. It’s cold and rainy out there. You can sleep in my bed, and I… I’ll sleep in Ruby’s room.”

The heaviness of these words created a palpable tension in the apartment. They held hands, to comfort each other, to keep each other centered as if they would both drift out of orbit if they let go. Loneliness can cause this: this loss of balance and self awareness. They had to be each others anchor in this moment. The Vigilante’s jaw tensed and Liv knew she was thinking carefully of how to respond to her offerings.

The luchador was confused. She rushed into an assumption tonight and left strangers battered in the streets of downtown Orlando. She protected Liv but understood that many would find this display of anger frightening. But she was extremely frustrated and had to release the rage that boiled deep within her after Alexa’s mind games tonight. She followed Alexa, Bray and Nikki for most of the day, and for what conclusion? Nothing happened other than the revelation of her identity. No further clues into why they were targeting Sasha other than Alexa coveting another title. And she allowed herself to fall prey to them at the playground, Alexa shattered her defenses and left a kiss on her cheek. A stain on her mask. And she would have to tell Sasha. There could no longer be lies between them if their friendship was truly meaningful. Or whatever they were doing, if it was sacred.

She also dreaded how furious Sasha will become when she tells her tonight about the confrontation with Alexa.

“I really have to leave.”

The Vigilante released Liv’s hands and rose from the chair, and slowly trudged to the door. Her stomach felt a bit more calm after quenching dehydration, but the thoughts of Alexa still made her nauseous. She was not in a relationship with Sasha, she did not agree to Alexa’s advances but she felt like she cheated tonight. She failed Sasha Banks in so many more ways than one.

Liv ran after her, again, as she did earlier in the evening. Liv grabbed her hand, and the Vigilante looked at her, and noted sadly, that the sclera of Liv’s eyes were red and watery, and her lips quivered.

“You don’t have to do that,” Liv said carefully, bravely, “Is there something wrong? Why… Why can’t you stay with me?”

The Vigilante’s ice blue eyes seemed to soften at these words, at Liv’s distressed tone. The ice she had worked so hard to build up around her face, around her heart in the past several weeks… Her stoic nature. It was slowly melting, dissolving. She wished to embrace Liv, as she had in the past. And she did have feelings for her, in Sasha’s absence, feelings that were difficult to ignore when she rescued Liv a couple times. And especially in one intimate moment, holding Liv in her arms and Liv hugged her neck, murmuring “thank you, love” in her ear, astonished by her heroism. She discovered redemption in Liv’s eyes, in Liv’s touch. She dragged her body through pain and injury, in repentance. To seek forgiveness from those she wronged. To ask even herself for forgiveness. She hoped Liv forgave her, and that meant so much more than words could express. A small part of her knew, as well, a tiny fraction within the electrical currents of her heart hoped that Liv knew who she was underneath the mask. That Liv was amazed with Bayley, as much as she was amazed with the Vigilante.

_Maybe. Hopefully._

Liv could forgive Bayley.

She could see a glimmer of her own vindication in Liv’s hopeful, blue-grey eyes. And she would not lead her on. Not here, not now. Because the lying, cheating, vicious Bayley Dos Straps was dead. And that death left a vacuum in Bayley’s soul that was unfortunately filled with malice and paranoia towards Sasha.

Bayley chose to stop disguising her voice in whispers and growls, and spoke in a normal, even tone to Liv.

“Liv, I’m so sorry. I can’t… because… I’m in love with someone and she needs me right now.”

Realization relaxed Liv’s facial muscles, she opened her mouth slightly in shock. Without much more thought, Liv’s body crashed into Bayley’s, embracing her. Bayley held her while Liv reached around and underneath the black zip up hoodie, her hands tightly pressed against the thin fabric of the tank top. Liv exhaled deeply into Bayley’s chest while Bayley stroked her platinum blonde hair. Again, they anchored each other, physically sheltered each other from the atrocities of the night.

The Vigilante pulled away slightly, finally lowered her mask over her lips, fully covering her face again. Liv looked up at the taller woman’s face, finally noticing that the stain on the mask was lipstick. She also saw the strips of tape were wearing down, since they had been out in the rain. The tape on the left side of her neck was dangling a bit, and Liv gently tugged it off. She thought she saw the outline of an embarrassed smile from the mask. Liv uncovered a very prominent hickey on the woman’s neck.

A chuckle escaped Liv’s lips, and then she hugged her hero once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was so nice to see Bayley again on 12/18! And she responded to my impatient tweet, thank you Dawg!
>
>> Dear virtual meet and greeters, these dummies don’t know what they’re doing in here. (Some tech issues) I swear it’s not because I don’t wanna talk to you all 😏 <https://t.co/h2XzzxSx0m> [pic.twitter.com/2IwSGKwaUx](https://t.co/2IwSGKwaUx)
>> 
>> — Bayley (@itsBayleyWWE) [December 18, 2020](https://twitter.com/itsBayleyWWE/status/1339970133859725312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)


	8. Are you that Somebody?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title based on the Aaliyah song of the same name.  
> I hope everyone's having a good start to 2021.

Sasha finally felt relaxed and peaceful. The rain was so loud, drumming hard against the windows, and the thunder rolled along with flashes of lightning occasionally illuminating her room. Nature played a frenzied game outside but she was warm and dry, clad in comfortable Role Model merchandise and cuddled in bed with her Bayley. She texted Bayley earlier in the evening but fell asleep in the music studio while waiting for a response. When Bayley finally arrived, she was pale and her clothes were wet from the rain. She wore all black and her hair was slicked back, and that signaled to Sasha that Bayley was worrying about something — she usually smoothed her hair down into the back of her head whenever she did this. Bayley desired to frantically discuss something but Sasha was exhausted, _it can wait until tomorrow._

Sasha fell back asleep easily, her head resting on Bayley’s chest. Bayley changed into dry clothes: a white tank top and pale blue, cotton shorts. Most of her skin was still exposed and Sasha loved this sight at night, but she was too tired to partake though. She thought she heard Bayley’s heart beating quickly as she drifted back to sleep.

She woke a couple times due to the rain, and realized in the middle of the night that she was sleeping on her back and had separated from Bayley. Bayley slept on her left side next to her, so Sasha saw her back, her torso rose and fell lightly while she slept. Sasha felt more awake when the elements outside woke her for a third time and she checked her phone, it was 5:00 am, which was usually the time she would wake up anyways.

She reached out to her friend, stroking her muscular back with her finger tips. She gazed beyond Bayley at the nightstand on the left side of their large bed. The Smackdown Women’s championship belt was perched there, its leather straps folded behind it and its jewels seem to glow in the absence of light. Sasha smiled. She loved gold, it was her favorite thing in the world. Well, most of the time it was her favorite thing… but there was someone else she thought of occasionally that gave her that same fluttery feeling of happiness. She realized though that she had become so obsessed with the pursuit of championships throughout her career, and this belt positioned on her nightstand became so important to her. Sometimes when she wore it, she would stare at herself in the mirror — this belt was _her._

_No._

She was more than just gold.

But what if she lost it?

That’s why Alexa Bliss and the Fiend’s antics deeply infuriated her. She worked so hard for this title, to be a Grand Slam champion in the WWE. _Did they even realize?! No, because everything is a fucking game and just a joke to them. Their puppets and their little funhouse…_

She couldn’t block out her negative feelings for others, the paranoia that someone would take away the blue belt. These feelings amplified when she wore the belt or held it. And then there was Bayley.

_Bayley._

Sasha watched her sleep, watched the peaceful pattern of her inhales and exhales in the darkness. _Bayley will help me, Bayley will protect me… right? Can I trust her?_

She wanted to believe Bayley’s words but it was hard. Even months after the betrayal, she still thought about it. Still dreamt about it. She could still close her eyes now and imagine Bayley’s deranged figure, body clenched in fury, as if possessed by the devil, screaming at her and hitting her. Sasha breathed deeply, centering herself and shaking her head.

_No… Bayley’s trying._

Sasha looked back at her gold, and noticed Bayley’s white luchador mask laying next to it. The mask also seemed to have a strange glow in the darkness, and Sasha noticed a dark stain on it. _Blood?_ She turned on the lamp adjacent to her, it clicked on and Bayley did not stir from sleep. She reached over Bayley to grab the mask. Now that the room was flooded with light, she realized in shock what was on the mask. Lipstick. A smeared kiss imprint.

“Bayley.”

Bayley sighed and grunted but continued sleeping.

Sasha repeated her name louder, keeping herself from yelling because that’s what she actually wanted to do. “Bayley.”

“Sash?” Bayley asked sleepily, her eyes still closed.

“What the fuck is this?”

“What?…” Still, her eyes were closed and she was still laying on her side. Bayley was never a morning person.

“Bayley! What is this?!” shouted Sasha into her friend’s ear, and she gripped Bayley’s shoulder to pull her onto her back.

Bayley’s eyes snapped open in surprise and she looked around quickly. “What—”

Sasha shoved the mask into Bayley’s face. “Whose fucking lipstick is on your mask?!”

“Sasha…” whispered Bayley, breathing heavily, “Um, I wanted to talk to you about it last night but you wanted to go to bed—”

“Answer my question!!”

Bayley spoke quickly, nervously peering into Sasha’s furious brown eyes: “I followed Alexa, Nikki and Bray last night to see what they were up to. Alexa, um, she kissed me—”

“What?”

“Sash, I didn’t want that at all, you know that! I only want to be with you. It happened so suddenly, I don’t know why she did that!”

“So, that’s what you’ve been doing? You wanna hang out with those freaks? You saw how they threatened me at the Rumble, and now you’re hanging out with them during the day but coming to my bed at night?!”

Sasha threw the white mask at Bayley’s face, and she initially was propped up on her elbow, then sat up quickly to cross her arms and stare lividly at Bayley.

Frightened, Bayley placed the mask down on the nightstand then she timidly reached out for Sasha. “Hey baby, it’s not like that, please—”

“What else have you been doing?” asked Sasha with gritted teeth, shifting aside so that Bayley could not touch her.

Bayley looked confused. “What?”

“You were stalking Alexa yesterday and then what else?” Sasha questioned angrily.

Bayley looked away briefly, pondering her choice of words. “I… ran into Liv Morgan, and she needed help. Some guys were following her—”

Sasha interrupted yet again. “Oh, so you’re flirting with Liv Morgan too, huh? I should’ve known not to fucking trust you. I let you into my bed, Bayley, and then you’re running around with a bunch of other women!”

Bayley placed a hand on Sasha’s knee and Sasha jumped away, standing up to be on the side of the bed.

“Don’t touch me, I need you to leave. Now!”

“Please, baby, let me explain to you. Nothing happened with Liv, I just helped her. And Alexa, you know that I was following her for you, to figure out what they want!” Bayley spoke loudly over Sasha’s protests.

“Don’t give me that shit, Bayley! What else would Alexa fucking want? She wants to be a double champion, duh! What else is there to figure out?” Sasha screamed, gesturing at the blue belt beside Bayley.

“I feel like it’s never that simple with them,” explained Bayley breathlessly. Fury was an understatement when it came to Sasha, and Bayley could feel herself losing hope. _Sasha won’t listen._ Maybe this was it, maybe they were done. _Again._

Sasha laughed sharply and shook her head. “You really think I’m stupid. You’re doing something with them and you re-entered my life to spy for her, is that right? Well, you fucked that up just like you fuck up everything else, Bayley.”

Bayley sighed. She wanted to be angry as well, she wanted to scream as well and come up with some sarcastic remarks to hurt Sasha. But that was futile. There was no point in continuing this discussion.

Sasha continued on, this time in a low tone and she looked up at the ceiling. “I should’ve never trusted you.”

“Sasha… I’ve only been with you, please believe me. Alexa plays mind games and I was trying to figure out exactly what she wants. She’s been a champion for a while, so why did she only recently confront you at the PPV? Why not challenge you sooner?” Bayley wondered aloud, keeping her voice even and kind.

Sasha gazed into Bayley’s eyes, and Bayley’s mouth opened slightly when she saw the tears in Sasha’s eyes. Sasha’s voice shook as she spoke.

“Bayley, please leave.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since this was a short chapter, the next chapter is coming up very soon! Thanks so much for all the hits, comments and kudos, I appreciate you all!


	9. Friday Night Mess

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be (obvious) changes to the TV storylines that show up in this fic, just to fit with the overall story. And all booking decisions are really only meant to further the story, I'm definitely not a fantasy booker or expert!

Sasha stared at her phone but barely listened, barely paid attention. She was on FaceTime with Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch, and she wasn’t exactly sure which direction the conversation had steered too. They began with discussing Smackdown tonight and then Sasha escaped into her thoughts. She felt as if she were underwater, she heard their voices but they seemed to be muffled or maybe her ears did not register the sounds. Her thoughts were clouded with so many topics, and she was just told an hour ago that she would be handed the mic to close out the show. She had to be in the ring at 9:45 pm.

“So what d’ya say, Boss?” Becky asked suddenly over the video.

Sasha peered at her phone and furrowed her brows, she wasn’t listening so she didn’t know what Becky was asking about.

“Did you get my text about the furniture? I like the couch but Becky doesn’t, so you’ll be the tie breaker,” explained Charlotte.

“I didn’t see it,” Sasha said hurriedly, pretending as if this was a very important conversation, “Let me take a look now—”

“Ya sure you’re OK?” asked Becky loudly, staring at Sasha carefully, and as best as she could virtually.

“Are you gonna keep asking me that? I’m fine, just busy. You’re busy too Becky, with your movies and commercials, so not sure why you’re jumping all over me about this,” Sasha scoffed.

“Calm your britches, Champ!” laughed Becky, and she exchanged a smile with Charlotte, “So, ya think your friend, Alexa, will show up tonight and finally challenge for your belt?”

Sasha laughed sharply, throwing her head back a bit while laughing and this also garnered chuckles from her fellow Horsewomen.

“Maybe! But she’d be dumb to do so. Like you all have said before, she needs to worry about Raw. And, the Women’s Royal Rumble winner is on her brand, and Naomi hasn’t told us who she’s challenging yet at Mania,” said Sasha.

“Do you think Naomi will challenge you?” asked Charlotte.

Sasha laughed again. “I don’t care, I’ll take care of business regardless of who’s on the other side of the ring.”

“Ah, of course. We know ya will. But I’m excited for next Tuesday!” exclaimed Becky.

Sasha sighed. Her birthday. She was hoping for a quiet evening with her friends, but Becky and Charlotte insisted that they had a huge event planned for her. At least they warned her first, she disliked surprises.

Charlotte chuckled. “You don’t look excited, Sasha. We’re going to pick you up and blindfold you so you don’t know where we’re driving. I promise you, you will love it.”

“Hefty promise from a Queen,” quipped Sasha, and she thought a bit more before continuing, “And you all were right about Bayley, so I hope you didn’t reach out to her for an invite.”

“Of course not!” Charlotte and Becky seemed to say simultaneously. Sometimes Sasha thought they shared brain cells, the way that she and Bayley did in the past.

“Did somethin’ happen?” Becky questioned with a frown.

Sasha tilted her head, looking around and not into the camera. “We just had a brief talk and I realized why she shouldn’t be in my life.”

“And?” said Charlotte, moving closer to the camera as if they were all huddled together.

Sasha laughed again. “And what, girl? There’s nothing else. Just a brief discussion. And that’s it. We’re done!”

* * *

The choir sang in the beginning, like it always did, voices rising high together until they reached a crescendo as the ThunderDome brightened, like the sun was rising within the arena. Then the lights shuttered off, plunging everyone into a brief darkness before the pyrotechnics suddenly exploded at the top of the entrance ramp. Then the music erupted, a fast paced beat mixed with drums, and the scattered crowd chorused into boos.

Seth Rollins breathed deeply and smiled widely as he slowly sauntered, his arms outstretched and he knew the boos were really just adulation for his appearance. His right hand rose high into the air, and he grasped quickly as if trying to catch lightning out of the sky. He wore all black and his leather jacket was open, he was flanked by his Disciple, Buddy Murphy, on his right and his fellow Messiah, the Role Model, on his left. Murphy wore a tight black compression long sleeve, and black wrestling tights with gray patterns on the sides. He walked in his usual funeral march with his hands together, a foot away or so from Seth and Bayley. Meanwhile, Bayley walked alongside Seth energetically, she was shouting and trolling the fans, giving the thumbs down to the few people in the crowd and to the virtual screens. She wanted to show them a different finger but thought she shouldn’t push her luck tonight. She wore a shiny, black sleeveless entrance jacket that had a deep hood, and she wore Seth’s merchandise shirt with his face emblazoned in a stained glass-type design, and the shirt was modified with cut-off sleeves. She also wore a sleeveless, thin turtleneck under the merch shirt, to hide the obvious blemishes on her neck, and she wore black, cropped pants and black boots. She had picked up some of the red Solo cups that were scattered at the top of the ramp, and now she chucked them into the crowd and at the screens, laughing hysterically at the boos and jeers from the angry audience. Seth cackled at Bayley’s antics.

The Street Profits and Bianca Belair exited the ring as Bayley, Seth and Murphy all entered. Murphy held the ropes open for Bayley. Seth’s smile was still wide and he stretched his arms out in the middle of the ring, allowing the boos to shower over him as if they were praises. Murphy frowned, leering over at their opponents. Bayley stomped around the ring, flung off her entrance jacket and threw it in Bianca’s direction, she missed but her jacket hit Michael Cole in the face.

* * *

They fought valiantly but even their coordinated efforts were outmatched in every tag team category. As the fight trudged on, Seth reached outside of the ring for the steel chair that Murphy slid towards a turnbuckle, while Murphy and Angelo Dawkins were exchanging punches by the barricade.

“Murphy! Get back on the ring apron!” commanded Seth.

He picked up the chair and rose quickly, and he collided with the referee. The referee was furious and grabbed the chair as well, shouting that Seth could get disqualified if he used it. Seth released the chair angrily and whirled around, he was hit with a perfect clothesline from Montez Ford. Bayley was close to an opposite turnbuckle and she was slumped against the ropes after absorbing some blows from Bianca. She thought frantically of how they could cheat to win. Montez climbed to the top rope when he saw that Seth was down on the mat for a prolonged period of time, he leaped high into the heavens and then crashed into Seth’s body with a magnificent Frog Splash. The impact also affected Montez because he rolled off Seth and clutched his abdomen. As Bayley watched this, Bianca re-entered the fray and grasped Bayley onto her feet. Bayley struggled but she was effortlessly placed over Bianca’s shoulders. Bianca raced over towards Seth and dropped Bayley, the Kiss of Death, right on top of Smackdown’s self-proclaimed Savior. Bayley and Seth both screamed in agony at their collision. Bianca then shifted Bayley’s body away and she yelled for her husband, Montez, to make the pin since he and Seth were the legal competitors.

After the 3 count, the Street Profits music boomed through the loud speakers and the crowd cheered and danced. Bayley clutched at the ring apron when Murphy approached her slowly, he patted her shoulder. They saw that Seth still lay motionless in the ring.

* * *

Bayley limped along backstage, she had an arm around Murphy who supported her as she walked. Her other arm gingerly hugging her abdomen. She thought she broke a rib. Murphy held her, but he was also clutching onto their entrance ring attire in his other arm. Seth walked in front of them, still shirtless, bristling with fury and his hair was wildly askew. There were a few boxes nearby and he ran up to them, shoving them off the crates and onto the floor.

“Calm down, dude,” Bayley called to him.

Seth whirled around furiously, spit flew as he shouted. “What?! Calm down?! We were embarrassed out there, Role Model!!”

Bayley groaned from the pain, she and Murphy halted in front of Seth. Murphy couldn’t look at Seth, even though Seth’s glare moved between them. Bayley grimaced at him.

“This was our first time tagging together, we’ll make it work. Just need more time—”

“But we’ve already spent so much time practicing! I can’t keep losing like this! I haven’t won a match in months!” screamed Seth, and then he reached up and pointed a finger in Murphy’s face, “WE haven’t won a match in months!”

Bayley swatted his finger away, and Seth glared at her in surprise. “You need to calm the fuck down, you look like you’re gonna pop a blood vessel.”

Seth sighed and shook his head, then rubbed his temple. He spoke in a low tone. “Murphy, help Bayley to the trainer area.”

Murphy frowned. “What about you? You got banged up out there too.”

Seth did not respond, he turned around and walked away without another word.

* * *

It was 9:45 pm and Sasha Banks stood alone in the Smackdown ring with her championship belt around her waist. She wore her black, blue and white Legit Boss tracksuit and white Jordan shoes. Her music stopped and she lifted the microphone up to her lips, gazing around the apprehensive crowd. She was right where she wanted to be: the Main Event of the evening.

“I know everyone here saw what happened at the Rumble last Sunday,” she started, “I made Carmella tap like you all knew I would.”

The crowd cheered at these words and Sasha waited for another lull before continuing on.

“But then, Alexa Bliss, Nikki Cross, and the Fiend thought it was a good idea to steal my spotlight. I don’t back down from a challenge, and of course I was ready to hold my ground. The masked Vigilante made an appearance, but I’m the Boss and the Champ, so I don’t need friends.”

She paused again because the crowd clapped and cheered at her bravado.

“And since I’m the Boss and the Champ, I also don’t play games. I know we haven’t heard yet from the Rumble winner, Naomi, on who she’s choosing for her Mania match, but I’m tired of waiting. Naomi can take as long as she wants but I will be deciding on something tonight. So, Alexa Bliss, I know you’re here! Come out and fight me if you want your chance to be a double champion!” shouted Sasha defiantly.

The crowd roared, everyone turned to the entrance ramp.

“What? Cole, do you really think Alexa Bliss, the Raw Women’s Champion, will come out here, for a Smackdown Women’s Championship match tonight?” Corey Graves asked his partner incredulously at the announce table.

Before Michael Cole could answer, music did not explode from the speakers, and instead it was voices. The lights around Sasha became a golden swirl and she glared viciously at the entrance ramp as she realized who was answering her call. The voices were a high pitched, an angelic choir, and then the energetic strum of a guitar hit. The Titantron revealed a mashup of gold and black lines, and a familiar name appeared in the middle.

It wasn’t Alexa.

Bayley was laughing as she walked out with Murphy at her side. She was still wearing the turtleneck, Seth’s shirt, and cropped black pants while Murphy was wearing his compression long sleeve again with black wrestling tights, but Bayley’s “Know Your Role Model” shirt was tucked into his waistband. She wanted to howl louder into her microphone but it hurt her ribs.

“Sis, is this wise?” Murphy whispered, trying not to move his lips much in front of the cameras.

Bayley shot him a smirk and she waved around, signaling for the music to stop.

“Forgot about me, didn’t you? Haha,” Bayley laughed crazily, “I didn’t forget that I never got a rematch—”

“Bayley, this is really not the time for your nonsense! Leave now and I won’t hurt you,” Sasha interrupted fiercely.

“So confident, aren’t you, Boss?” Bayley said, still smirking with a sarcastic tone as she and Murphy continued to walk down the ramp.

“Bayley! I’m warning you—”

“Or what? Like I said, I haven’t forgotten that you’re wearing my title, and you never gave me a rematch after Hell in a Cell!” Bayley shouted.

The crowd booed loudly, and then they started chanting Sasha’s name. Sasha nodded around at everyone appreciatively but she did not take her eyes off Bayley. _What the hell is she doing? Has she lost her fucking mind? She’s here to torment me after last night._

“Shut the hell up!” Bayley yelled around at the crowd as Murphy glowered at everyone. The crowd only became louder.

They only paused when they noticed that Sasha brought her microphone back up to her lips.

“So if Alexa’s not coming out here and looks like we still have 10 minutes to spare before the end of Smackdown. Fine Bayley, let’s see if you can beat me tonight to get the blue belt back,” Sasha stated savagely as she threw her mic down. She pointed at the referee who sat nearby the announce table and signaled for her to get into the ring.

Bayley grinned maliciously as she entered the ring, Murphy stayed by her corner and he looked quite concerned. Sasha zipped down her tracksuit, revealing a black sports bra with glittery moon designs. She threw her top aside and removed her championship belt as well. Bayley whistled and Sasha huffed furiously at this. Sasha touched just below her collarbone, Bayley’s love bite was expertly concealed with make-up.

The bell rang and they locked arms, Sasha viciously bringing Bayley’s body close to her.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” she whispered with gritted teeth at the Role Model.

Bayley’s eyes were apologetic. “Helping you.”

“What?!”

Before Sasha could say much else, Bayley kneed her in the abdomen and her grip around Bayley’s arms loosened. Bayley hammered down blows with her right forearm against Sasha’s back. But Sasha soon grabbed at Bayley’s legs and swept her onto the mat. At this impact with the mat, Bayley clutched at her sides painfully. Sasha didn’t hesitate and immediately landed several kicks onto Bayley’s abdomen.

“Hey!” Murphy called from outside of the ring and Sasha looked at him.

He found Bayley’s trusty chair underneath the ring, it was a black steel chair with an X and white spray paint; the words “ROLE MODEL” also carved into the backrest of the chair.

Sasha glared at him for running interference, while the referee yelled at Murphy to put the chair down. Sasha kicked Bayley one last time before turning her full attention to Murphy and the chair. She went outside of the ropes, on the apron area and charged at Murphy. He dropped the chair in surprise, and Sasha leaped up, falling on his neck and shoulders with a Meteora.

Bayley heard the commotion outside of the ring and she slithered out, still grasping her sides as she approached Sasha. She hit her shoulder blade with her forearm, and Sasha fell off Murphy. Murphy crawled over to collect the chair again. Bayley grabbed Sasha’s hair, but while kneeling down, Sasha jabbed Bayley’s stomach with her elbow. Bayley screamed out in pain and let go of the Champion, instead choosing to retreat back into the ring. Behind the referee who was turned around and counting, Murphy slid the chair into the ring. Bayley covered it with her body as Sasha re-entered the ring. Murphy started to wave his hands at the referee, and during this distraction, Bayley hit Sasha’s flank with the side of the chair. Sasha was livid, the air escaped from her chest and she gasped, falling to her knees. Bayley tossed the chair aside in time as the referee turned back to them. She hooked Sasha’s arm around her leg and she was ready for a Rose Plant to finish the Champion.

But Sasha was too quick. Sasha reversed this maneuver, and managed to swivel Bayley into the Bank Statement in the center of the ring. Murphy frantically climbed onto the ring apron.

“Stay out of women’s business!” Sasha bellowed at him as she pulled Bayley’s face and neck back. Bayley’s cries were muffled in this submission hold.

Suddenly, eerily, some of the lights of the ThunderDome were shut off. Sasha released Bayley in this semi-darkness and she stood up quickly, she was ready. Many of the virtual fan display screens were black or appeared static-like, and the few people in the crowd were murmuring in confused voices. The remaining lights abruptly glowed red, and the Fiend’s laughter boomed through the speakers. The Fiend’s terrible face also appeared on the Titantron, his tongue writhing out of his mask.

Bayley could feel herself sliding out of the ring, Murphy was tugging on her boots. He caught her so that she wouldn’t fall on the mat outside, he supported her weight with a muscular arm as she was sinking from a standing position beside him.

“Sis!” He shouted at Bayley, “Sis! We’ve gotta go!”

Bayley shook her head as she looked into his pale face, she stammered through her grimaces. “No, dude. We gotta get back in the ring. Protect her…”

Murphy’s face turned even more pale in this red murkiness surrounding them and he stared at Bayley, bewildered. Bayley released him and limped back over to the ring, she rolled inside. Murphy followed her.

Sasha glowered at the Titantron, at the Fiend. Her muscles tensed, her fists clenched, and she ground her teeth hard.

“Come out now! Stop with the damn games! I’m not afraid—”

Her words were cut off by the eruption of fire around her. The ring ropes were ablaze, and Sasha stumbled to the mat in shock. Bayley reached over towards her, while Murphy flung himself over both women, attempting to shield them from any harm. The Fiend’s laughter became louder as the crowd screamed in horror, people were exiting the arena because of the sudden appearance of flames. In this frenzy, Alexa Bliss slowly sauntered out from the backstage curtain and she stood serenely at the top of the entrance ramp. Her blonde hair in cute pigtails, and she wore a bright pink shirt, denim overall shorts, and white tennis shoes. Her blue eyes reflected the flames that she conjured, and her lips twisted into a smile.

From the space between Murphy’s arm and his V-shaped torso, Sasha saw Alexa. Sasha shoved Murphy off of her and she rose to her feet. Murphy and Bayley, still on their knees and clutching each other in terror, watched her as she stood close to the fiery ropes.

Alexa giggled sweetly and waved at her.

“I’m not afraid of you!” Sasha screamed at Alexa. Her words were drowned though by the Fiend’s cackle, by the heated atmosphere, by the fire threatening to burn them alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, thank you for your support!   
> I also write BayLiv and Charley, check those fics out as well!


	10. Friday Night Mess, Pt. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Go stream my friend's Bayley fancam, I chose the song!
>
>> Well.... [#SmackDown](https://twitter.com/hashtag/SmackDown?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [pic.twitter.com/ZRd1oU882U](https://t.co/ZRd1oU882U)
>> 
>> — Em ⚡️ (@Loyal2Bayley) [February 20, 2021](https://twitter.com/Loyal2Bayley/status/1362953151511490560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

People buzzed around her: white coats, black polo shirts, business suits, a leather jacket. She knew they were all arguing with each other, she knew they were loud, raucous. She could tell from their stressful body language, the pacing and arm waving of her otherwise calm manager, the reddening of her friends’ faces. But Sasha couldn’t hear anything, just a loud ringing in her ears. This tinnitus seemed to exist beyond her mind, seemed to bounce around the beautiful walls of her luxurious, private locker room. She felt numb, and she really wanted to become emotional after all that happened recently but her body would not allow this.

“How the hell could you people let this happen?” Mel Mack, Sasha’s manager, shouted at Sonya Deville. They both wore dark business suits, but Mel had a pencil skirt instead of pants, and Sonya’s suit was of the three-piece variety, equipped with a matching black vest.

Sonya glanced over at her colleague, Adam Pearce, and the medical staff surrounding Sasha. She sighed slowly. “Ms. Mack, as you know in the business of professional wrestling, we really can’t control what occurs during every match and like you, we are completely shocked by the events of this evening.”

Mel stepped closer to the taller woman, her eyes wide with bewilderment. “You’re shocked, huh?! Shocked?! Your ring ropes shouldn’t be randomly set on fire during the main event! And especially not when my client is in the ring! Do you know how much money Sasha Banks brings into your company?!”

Sonya allowed her to continue shouting before she finally put her hands up, as if gesturing for calm. Then, Charlotte Flair, also wearing a dark skirt suit while her right shoulder was in a sling, entered their conversation, to give her take on tonight’s lunacy. Mel seemed to welcome her opinion. Sasha watched them for a while and then looked away in Becky Lynch’s direction. Becky was talking to Adam Pearce, she was cradling her chin with her right fist, she wore Charlotte’s white merchandise t-shirt with metallic, gold lettering and she also wore tight, black leather pants and a black leather jacket. Sasha could tell, just from her movements and facial expressions that Becky was enraged. And that was an understatement.

Sasha turned to her left side when a male nurse tapped on her shoulder, offering her the oxygen non-rebreather mask with thin green straps. She had refused this mask when she was ushered into the locker room after the Orlando Fire Department helped her out of the ring. She stared at the nurse.

“Boss?”

Sasha could not hear his words, just continuous ringing. He politely offered the supplemental oxygen again and she waved him away. The doctor in a long white coat stood next to him, her dark hair had streaks of gray, and she approached Sasha as well.

“Ms. Banks,” the doctor said, “Your oxygen levels are dropping a little, could you please wear this mask? Also, how’s your breathing?”

Sasha turned her attention to the doctor, she frowned since she saw her lips moving but could not decipher the words.

“Ms. Banks?”

Ringing. Buzzing.

Her heart was beating in her ears. Her lungs were in her throat.

* * *

“There was a change in our last guest of the evening, but we are still excited to have one out of the three people who were scheduled at the end with us. Please welcome, the WWE’s Role Model and self-proclaimed Friday Night Messiah, Bayley!” Kayla Braxton said with a grin.

Bayley was waiting in the backstage curtains but her face immediately lit up with a smile when she stepped on set to join Kayla Braxton and Paul Heyman. Bayley wore a thin, white turtleneck, pale blue jeans with rips over the knees and some parts of the thighs, and she also wore Seth’s leather jacket with black fur lining the collar.

“Good evening,” Heyman greeted her with an admiring smile.

Bayley shook his hand as she sat next to him. “Hello sir, good to see you again. Sorry you’ve been stuck here all night with Kayla.”

Heyman chuckled as Kayla raised her eyebrows at Bayley.

“So Bayley, we had an hour delay in Talking Smack this evening due to the fire in the ring at tonight’s main event. As we said in the beginning of the show, everyone involved is now safe and doing well. Since you were there, could you tell us exactly what happened?” questioned Kayla, she rested her elbows on the glass table as she leaned closer to Bayley’s direction.

Bayley frowned and laughed. “Everyone saw what happened. Alexa Bliss and the Fiend interrupted my match, they prevented me from becoming the Smackdown Women’s Champion again. What else is there to know?”

Heyman opened his mouth to speak but Kayla continued on.

“Well, I saw that you were outside of the ring at first and then you and Buddy Murphy re-entered the ring. And suddenly you were all trapped in the fire. Were you trying to help Sasha Banks?” Kayla asked.

Bayley laughed again, and then coughed a bit, the smoke inhalation from earlier still affected her. “Is that a serious question? Why would I help Sasha Banks? I went back into the ring to restart the match, and while she was turned around worrying about clowns in costumes, that was the perfect time to catch her off-guard. Duh!”

“Spoken like a true Messiah and a real Role Model, I get the sense that Kayla is questioning your intelligence, Bayley,” Heyman chimed in, nodding astutely.

Kayla shook her head and smiled. “Paul, I know you’re a fan of Bayley but you have to admit that she didn’t have a good night. Bayley, you and Seth Rollins have mentioned on social media that you are the Friday Night Messiah and he is Smackdown’s Savior, but what does tonight’s set-back mean to you?”

Bayley’s eyebrows furrowed and she pursed her lips, she exchanged annoyed looks with Paul Heyman.

“What’re you talking about? There were no ‘set-backs’ tonight. Bianca and the Street Profits are always trying to find ways to cheat, we’ll see how far that gets them on Smackdown. And if they’re really worth anything, they’ll give us a rematch next week! AND, I was in the main event once again! Sasha and those two little ponies can say whatever they want but they can’t deny that I am THE workhorse of the women’s division. I am THE Horsewoman.”

Heyman clapped at the end of her statement, as Bayley glared at Kayla.

“Um… yes, we heard the statements given by Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair and Sasha Banks on Raw Talk earlier this week and they had a few words for you on Twitter, especially Becky Lynch had some, um, feedback for your performance at the Royal Rumble—”

“Kayla! The Friday Night Messiah has graced us with her presence and here you are, mentioning superstars who are not even on Smackdown,” Heyman remarked incredulously.

Bayley nodded approvingly, in a condescending way.

Kayla sighed and pulled up the Twitter app on her smartphone. “Speaking of the term ‘Messiah,’ Becky Lynch even tweeted out a few minutes ago that you and Seth are ‘just a Friday Night Mess.’ Any words for her?”

Heyman cringed at this and looked away while Bayley appeared a bit stunned. She also swiftly removed her phone from the jacket pocket, she thought quickly but was obviously rattled by the digital words of the ‘punny’ Man.

“Umm…” Bayley started, opening Twitter on her phone as well and the first thing that popped up on her timeline was Becky’s tweet with over 10K likes already, “She’s one to talk when she’s just filming movies and commercials that no one’s gonna see, haha. I’m not worried about the jokes from a fake, Hollywood Man. She should put down the phone and actually meet me in the ring if she’s gotta problem. And you know what… we don’t even have to do it in the ring, we can talk in the parking lot tonight, Becky.”

Bayley said these last words viciously into the nearest camera. Heyman and Kayla exchanged surprised looks and nodded silently. In their silence, Bayley perused a bit more on the Twitter app and started to read other tweets.

“These fans are outta their minds, I keep seeing these tweets that I’m Sasha’s bodyguard?! She can’t afford me! And I can’t stand her, why the fuck—” Bayley began and she was interrupted by a producer in the back who shouted “language!”.

Bayley smiled at the producers and the camera crew before she continued on. “Listen kids, we’re enemies. Nothing’s gonna change that, so stop tweeting me this nonsense!”

She slammed her phone down onto the glass table violently. Heyman, sensing that Bayley was further spiraling into a negative path on live television, clasped his hands together and interjected calmly.

“Seems like your mutual fanbases miss your interactions. But the most important matter of the night, at least from what I have noticed, is that you and Murphy make a good team without Seth Rollins. You and Seth both share the responsibility of Messiah, or Savior, but yet, you share one disciple among you. But might I add… I think you could save Smackdown on your own, I think you could gather more disciples on your own as you step out of Seth’s shadow. In a way, I see him similar to your partnership with Sasha Banks this past summer, he is impeding your progress,” explained Heyman.

Bayley peered over at Heyman, who sat to her right, he was smiling. Even in her anger over the fans’ speculations, she was not inhibited enough to fall prey to Paul Heyman’s machinations. She respected him and he often complimented her, but he worked for Roman Reigns, the Universal Champion who presided over the so-called Island of Relevancy. Roman Reigns, the Tribal Chief of the Bloodline, who included the Uso brothers and the Women’s Royal Rumble winner, Naomi. Roman, Seth’s former Shield brother, but now he refused to interact with Seth, treating him like a despicable jobber — or as Seth described to her.

Kayla’s voice interrupted her musings. “Tell us, Bayley, what’s next for Smackdown’s Messiahs and their disciple?”

“You’ll have to wait and see, but before long, everyone will embrace our vision,” Bayley spoke solemnly, showing her allegiance to Seth Rollins’ cause.

“What does that mean exactly? I keep seeing you all tweet about it and put that phrase in the Instagram stories. What vision are we supposed to be embracing?” questioned Kayla, in a truly curious tone.

Bayley chuckled and looked at the time on her phone. “I have to get going and looks like the show should’ve ended 5 minutes ago. Kayla, baby, text me later and we can talk about what it means in your hotel room tonight.”

* * *

Bayley was still smiling and chuckling a bit to herself as she walked down a hallway, she hoped to retrieve her things quickly from the women’s locker room and meet up with Seth and Murphy. After Smackdown ended, she and Murphy were evaluated in the trainers room, they were both fine though. Medical issues did not affect them, they were more disturbed by the appearance of the flames. It was easy to forget about this horror when she was playing her usual Role Model act while on Talking Smack, to wear an invisible mask compared to the Vigilante’s public mask. But now that she was alone with her thoughts, in this winding and poorly lit hallway of a sports arena, her smiles and laughs disappeared.

The fire trick that Alexa displayed this evening was also witnessed at the Royal Rumble during her title defense against Asuka. There was a single ball of fire that screeched into Asuka’s vicinity, that was enough to create disaster for the fearless Empress. But now, she lit the entire ring on fire. Bayley respected Sasha’s decision that they should remain separate, she did not deny that she failed Sasha but Sasha, in her own distrust of Bayley, jumped to the conclusion of infidelity. And they weren’t even in a relationship… Sasha even said herself that that was not the case between them. Bayley was no more than a bed warmer. At times, that hurt, but it hurt even more that Sasha wanted nothing to do with her.

_But how could Sasha deal with Alexa and the Fiend on her own?_

_And Nikki? With the switchblade?_

_Would Sasha accept the Vigilante’s help?_

Sasha had Becky and Charlotte on her side, but they had never been present when she needed help. Charlotte had a shoulder injury and Becky was on a break to be in Hollywood, they weren’t involved in wrestling at the moment.

Before entering the locker room, Bayley’s phone _pinged_ with a text message notification. Her eyebrows raised as she opened the message.

_“Ding Dong, Hello! Room 342 at the Rosen Centre Hotel.”_

The text message was from Kayla Braxton. Completely distracted by this, Bayley opened the locker room door.

“Ah! It’s the workhorse I’ve been lookin’ for!” Becky Lynch shouted with her arms up in mock surprise at Bayley’s entrance. Becky was standing in front of Bayley’s locker. Charlotte was sitting on a nearby chair.

The chatter of the locker room died down and everyone stared at Bayley. An ominous vapor hung in the air, the people who were previously sitting, except Charlotte, stood up. Becky motioned her head to the side, and Dakota Kai who was standing close to Bayley, went to the locker room entrance door and locked it. Dakota had a gleeful smile on her face and her friend Raquel, crossed her arms and chuckled; they were excited for the impending confrontation.

Bayley breathed deeply when she heard the door lock click behind her. She tried to smile at Becky, her lips twitched with anxiety.

“What’s up, Dawg? I haven’t seen you in a while,” Bayley stated with a respectful nod at Becky, her voice shaking.

Becky smiled and slowly approached, Bayley stepped back but her back stopped at a wall.

“Dawg? That’s how you address the Man, eh?” Becky said, a few inches away from Bayley’s face now. Bayley could smell the alcohol on Becky’s breath.

“Just joking with ya, Becky—”

“So Talking Smack musta been a joke too, right? All your talks of ponies and how I’m fake like Hollywood? Just jokes…” Becky whispered, her face inching closer, the whites of her eyes streaked red because of the liquor she had ingested. Her whisper could be heard by all the women in the locker room. Charlotte cleared her throat but did not speak.

Becky’s eyes shifted downward to look at Bayley’s right hand, her fingers were wiggling nervously.

“What’s that? Do I smell fear? You were the one who wanted to meet me in the parking lot tonight, remember?” Becky said with a grin.

Bayley clenched her fist and looked into Becky’s eyes, she knew that everyone was watching her. Dakota and Raquel, she heard their light giggles in the corner… Liv and Ruby, Bianca, Charlotte… Everyone.

“Fear? All I smell is your breath stinking with alcohol,” Bayley said with a laugh, and then it felt like the air escaped from the room. But really, the air was escaping from her lungs, because Becky gripped her throat tightly with both hands, shoving her roughly into a locker.

“Ya think you’re funny, right? You fucking jobber,” spat Becky, her face close to Bayley’s as she crushed Bayley’s windpipe in her strong hands.

Bayley struggled, her hands lifted up from her sides to grip Becky’s wrists, but nothing was working. Becky’s grip was becoming tighter and tighter, violently ripping oxygen from her lungs. Bayley’s hands around Becky’s wrists started to loosen, slacken, and her strength was quickly fading. Flashes and floaters began to appear in her vision, as the words that Becky continued to berate her with were not fully reaching her ears.

“You pathetic piece of…”

“Shoulda collected my debt from you earlier…”

“I protected you…”

“You betrayed Sasha…”

“You’re a fucking animal…”

Bayley woke briefly when Becky shoved her repeatedly into the locker, her head bouncing off the metal behind her.

Another voice entered the fray: “Let her go, she’s had enough.”

She had another brief black out as her head, even more viciously, smacked again and again on the metal.

“Rebecca!”

After Charlotte shouted, Becky suddenly let her go. Bayley’s legs collapsed beneath her and she sank to the floor, sputtering and gasping. She heard a few women laughing. While having a coughing fit, she managed to lift her head up but that’s because her chin was wrenched upwards. Becky peered into her eyes.

“If I hear you talking about me, Char or Sasha ever again, I’ll break your fucking neck. You’ll be in some fucking nursing home eating apple sauce for the rest of your life. This is my one warning to you, and you should thank my lady here for saving your worthless neck,” Becky whispered violently. To punctuate her final statement, Becky smacked Bayley’s face with the back of her fist. Bayley’s lip busted open, and the side of her mouth filling with blood made her breathing even more coarse.

Becky stood up and adjusted her jacket, saying her goodbyes to the other wrestlers. And she reached out to hold Charlotte’s hand. Charlotte took her hand but she had a stern expression on her face.

“Bex, was all that really necessary?” she remarked.

Becky nodded and grinned at her girlfriend. She turned away to exit.

And as Charlotte sauntered by, Bayley saw her release Becky’s hand and reach to the side. Charlotte’s finger tips briefly brushed over the top of Bayley’s dark hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your support, I appreciate you all.


End file.
